Taylor Lehman — Intern at Ferst Readers

I consider myself lucky to be working with an organization such as Ferst Readers of Muscogee County. I had no prior knowledge of Ferst before a friend of mine recommended the internship to me during my sophomore year at CSU. I did not pursue it at the time because of work circumstances; however, when later approached by a former professor who remembered my writing skills, I knew I had to take advantage of this opportunity. After learning about the organization’s mission, I felt confident in meeting their needs as an organization. Over the past month, I have learned how to truly manage my time and responsibilities dependent upon someone else’s time frame and obligations.

           

My responsibilities include calling parents to welcome them to Ferst and make sure they are receiving their books, posting the monthly newsletter to the website, keeping the website updated and making any necessary changes to it and/or their social media. I have also assisted in writing articles for their monthly newsletter. This prepares me for the “real world” by introducing the idea of reliable communication habits. I have to be consistent and relatively quick in my response time to emails.  I have also gained experience with performing what I like to call “quality” calls to parents. My perspective on internships in general has changed from hesitant to advocate. Its allowing me to gained necessary knowledge I can use later in life as well as utilize my skills in way I have not exercised before.

 

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Addison Webster — WRBL News Intern

I had another long but fun week at WRBL. On Monday, I learned about graphics and practiced placing them in the noon show. On Wednesday, I filmed Chuck Williams for a story about future apartments across from TSYS. 

On Friday, I went to Recorder’s Court with reporter Kendrick Conwell. We were there to watch Tyrone Washington’s first court appearance after he allegedly murdered someone on Thanksgiving of last year. After court, I helped write the story for broadcast. Later on Friday, I ran the prompter for the first time during both the 5:00 P.M. and 6:00 P.M. shows. 

On Saturday, Chuck Williams and I went to a Republican rally which celebrated Doug Collins and the opening of the Republican Party headquarters on Manchester Expressway. When we got back, I helped Chuck edit the news package. After that, I helped find a kicker, or fun story, for the 11:00 P.M. Saturday show. I am excited to see what next week holds.

Addison Webster — WRBL News Intern

I worked five days this week at WRBL: a half day on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and full days on Friday and Saturday. Here are some highlights:  On Monday I emailed candidates running for Alabama’s Super Tuesday election, asking for their headshots so that they could be featured. I also had more production training and practiced stacking my own show.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to do more of this in the coming weeks.

Tuesday, Chuck Williams, Kane, and I followed up an incident that was reported during a CSU Cougar Alert. During this story we spoke with some homeless men who were living under the 14th Street Bridge and then we asked Mayor Skip Henderson about what he is doing to solve the problem. 

Wednesday, Kevin Roble, Tyler (a Production Assistant) and I went to Central High School. We filmed high school seniors who were new recipients to full ride scholarships to Alabama State University. I also wrote the script for this story. 

Friday, Chuck Williams and I followed up on the homeless population story we did on Tuesday. All of the men that were under the bridge were now gone.

Saturday, I was at the station from 3:00 P.M. to 11:30 P.M. During this time, I found two kickers, or fun stories, for the 7:00 P.M. and 11:00 P.M. shows. I also checked the prompts for spelling errors.

Shayna Otinger –CSU Social Media Intern

These past two weeks have been dedicated to creating the promotional video for the print shop. During the past two weeks I have been checking equipment out, filming, and editing for the video. I have continued to make posts to our social media platforms as well. The video is almost complete. All that is needed are the ending credits with the communication department logo and I will have the completed piece. 

Note:  Shayna submitted a video of her work.  Our site does not support video at this time.

 

Shayna Otinger — CSU Social Media Intern

Since the beginning weeks of my internship, I have created a fair amount of projects for social media. In Week One, I reviewed and analyzed a social media platform that had previously been created, which was Facebook. Revisions were made and then another that I helped create was Instagram.  After revising or creating these, I started design work.  I created the social media promotional flyers and posters we put inside a banner stand.  These sit outside the CSU main entrance. We started our free goodie-bag project to promote the platforms as well. (Get a free goodie bag for a follow and a share). I then moved into creating the “Hiring” poster for a student-assistant position. Also, I created a flyer promoting our free give away of an engraved tumbler for a follow, like, and share of our social media pages. I hung the flyers and passed them out on both River Park and main campus. Lastly, I created a small flyer to be put “In The Know,” encouraging our faculty and staff to help inform the students of our services.

In these few weeks, we have gained 50 followers on our Instagram and received a little more action than usual on our Facebook page. Five posts have been created overall, and I have decided to have a two-to-three-posts a week schedule. Finally, revisions are currently in progress for the Cougar Copy Center’s main website page on CSU’s site.

 

 

Addison Webster — WRBL News Intern

It was a full week at WRBL. On Monday, I went out into the field with Kevin Roble and another trainee, Eldrick, to film some B-Roll.  This was for the Remarkable Women special that the station has been doing. This was a great experience because we went to a house that was being renovated by House of Heroes. We got to know the workers AND work on different angles and types of shots.

On Tuesday,  I added an extra day to my internship schedule. I also worked on my scripts. One intern, Kane, wrote a website article about an overturned gasoline trunk while I was able to produce the script for the 12:00 P.M. show. After that, Kane and I started producer training. We worked on stacking a show and looked for stories that are not in the Columbus Georgia area.

On Wednesday, I went to a press conference with reporter Chuck Williams. I helped ask some interview questions and took some photos at the conference for the website article. After we got back, I helped Chuck write the article. To finish out my Wednesday, I recorded audio for the Cougar Minute which will air on Monday!

Overall I had another productive week. I always feel like I’m learning so much and being productive with my time. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for me at WRBL.

Addison Webster, WRBL News 3 Intern

Week of February 9th:

I had another good week at WRBL. On Monday I developed the technical skills of using  the studio cameras, working the graphics, and running the teleprompter.  It is important to be cross trained in all different areas so that you can do anything in the production studio. My long-term goal at WRBL, if I get a job post-graduation in May, would be to work in production as a Line Producer. In this role, I would also have to be able to work proficiently on the other technical areas at the news station.

Friday was Valentine’s Day so Abby Bradshaw and I went downtown with the purpose of filming the subject of love. Abby is a former CSU student and is now a news producer.  We started at Kilwin’s and filmed the workers making chocolate-covered strawberries.  We then went to a flower shop and filmed a husband’s adorable story about how he and his wife made a long-distance relationship work before moving in together on Valentines Day 10 years ago. At the end of the day,  Chuck Williams, a reporter, needed to film some live content at the CSU News Bureau. I went with him to help him set up and to queue him when to speak. This was fun because at 5:00 P.M. and 6:00 P.M., I had the show’s producer in my ear (on headphones) telling me when to have Chuck start speaking.   I’m excited for another exciting week next week.

Shayna Otinger–CSU Social Media Intern

For this week’s log, Shayna is presenting the projects that she has created so far in efforts to promote CSU’s social media for the copy center and printing solutions:

This flyer was created for the collaboration with faculty and staff, where I am still in the beginning stages. It is to be put in the next “In The Know” for CSU.  It was difficult to reach faculty and staff via online during class times (because of legal issues).  Submitting to “In The Know” was a resourceful way to reach them. 

 

My intent for this flyer, below, was to print it poster-size and hang it around both Main and RiverPark campuses in noticeable areas. This was posted to social media and included in our giveaway contest.  That way, it was reposted and liked to gain more traffic. This Monday we had our drawing for the giveaway, but we did not receive as much action as we hoped for.

 

These are the instructions for the giveaway we had. Next month, I plan to make the flyer more eye catching by making the instructions more direct and concise. Hopefully, this will help clear any confusion with participants and gain more traffic for our platforms. 

 

 

Overall, our total number of followers accounted for Instagram is 59.  We have gained 9 followers over the week, which is good news.  Next month, we’re shooting for more entrees and activity.  To do this, I plan to advertise more effectivity by starting by word of mouth with my classmates, professors, and students. This week I have also started the production of our first promotional video. I filmed it this past week and will soon begin editing. 

Addison Webster, WRBL News 3 Intern

Week of January 27:

While I did lots of amazing stuff this week, my highlight was Friday. Friday was a big day. I started out the say going to Auburn with Keldrick, another WRBL Reporter. While we were at Auburn, we attended an FBI conference in which the David Bowdich, the Deputy Director of the FBI, was announcing a partnership with Auburn University in which the university’s graduates will have a better understanding of how they can join the infamous bureau.

After we returned,  it was time for me to film the Cougar Minute. This is super cool for two reasons. First, I get to represent my school and my internship in one project. The second is that I am able to work on speaking on screen with confidence. This is important to me because I aspire to be an on-air reporter; however, as of now, I am really self conscious on air. I’ll stumble over words or just read like a robot. I know that I am improving because this week was the second time, I’ve done the Cougar Minute and I did not mess up as much as I did the first time.

Addison Webster, WRBL News 3 Intern

Week of January 20:

This was a big week for me. I successfully pitched two stories, shot three interviews, edited together a news package, and wrote my first script and website post. The first story was about Te Amo Tea closing. All weekend I put together compelling questions to ask the owner of Te Amo ToShiró Lynn about his shop’s closing. On Monday, Kevin Roble (one of the reporters), two other interns and I went to his shop. Roble taught us how to work the camera and then I asked my questions. By the end of the day, Roble taught us how to edit together video for the 6pm news. A couple days later, Sam Sachs taught me how to write up that sorry for it to be posted to their website, app, and Facebook. 

My second story is one regarding the upcoming annual Georgia High School Thespian Convention. I interviewed Ross Horner on Tuesday regarding the economic impact of the event and Larry Dooley on Wednesday about CSU’s preparation for the event. Moving forward, I plan on being at the event and interviewing student’s reactions to the convention. This has been an exciting story to pursue because it is one in which I have past connections with. I look forward to seeing what I do next week.