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I Interned at Arizona Public Media!

For the spring semester of 2019, I interned at Arizona Public Media (AZPM for short) as a radio news intern in Tucson, Arizona. AZPM is Tucson’s local National Public Radio (NPR) affiliate and is based out of the University of Arizona.

Entrance to the AZPM office

I can never take a serious photo

I worked 10 hours a week in two five-hour chunks of time on Mondays and Wednesdays, with a 30-minute lunch, and it was the perfect amount of time. That period of time allowed me to get a story completed about every two weeks. By the end of my internship, I completed seven stories, although you’re only required to complete six. One of your six required stories has to be a feature story, which is about a four-minute-long radio story; the others are “spots,” which are a minute or less.

My Spots

Recording in the studio

Contributor

Contributor on “Being Black in Tucson”
Contributor on “UA Student Financial Aid Applications Proceed In Spite of Shutdown”

This was my first time interning with a radio news station and I learned so much. I was on the print track in the University of Arizona’s School of Journalism, so I didn’t know too much about broadcast writing, but I learned over the course of the semester. It was always challenging to write radio scripts and I received MANY edits on them, but I definitely improved because of it. I learned how to write radio news stories, record and interview using fancy audio studios and equipment, voice my own stories, and edit audio using Adobe Audition. You can basically choose which stories you want to write about, so I was able to make trips to Reid Park Zoo, Biosphere 2, and all around the UA campus.

Inside one of the large recording booths

I didn’t receive too much guidance or assistance besides my scripts, which was unfortunate, and a lot of what I learned was self-taught. If I had any major questions, I asked the other reporters. The team at AZPM is very helpful and kind, and they were always willing to answer my questions. I was there during a tumultuous time for AZPM because the news director was out on maternity leave and they were doing construction in the newsroom, however, this didn’t impact my work.

I learned more than I thought I would during this internship and it gave me great experience in radio news. It is challenging at times, but well worth the work!