Lauren Cohen, a senior journalism major from Twinsburg, Ohio, has already made an impact during her internship, producing many front-page stories for the Akron Beacon Journal and Signal Akron. Cohen's experience with the Knight Foundation highlights the deep partnerships and industry connections Kent State maintains within the Northeast Ohio media landscape, providing students with access to high-profile reporting roles.
Q: Tell us about your internship.
My internship is with both the Akron Beacon Journal and Signal Akron, so it鈥檚 collaborative. All of my articles go up on both sites. The Knight Foundation is a nonprofit that is funding the internship. They invest in journalism initiatives.
Q: What is something amazing about this job that has surprised you?
Almost all of the stories I've written so far have been on the front page, which has been really cool. I usually don't know if it's going to be on the front page or not. It was very surreal to see my byline in the physical paper for the first time, and one of the things I love about journalism is that you always get that tangible product at the end. I get to see the newspaper, hold it and say, "This is what I worked so hard on." And now people get to flip through and read it, which is really cool.
Q: How did you land your internship with the Knight Foundation?
I had originally connected with somebody at Signal Akron on LinkedIn, and I had a networking call with them. They invited me to visit the Signal Akron newsroom. So, I got to meet everybody, and they all encouraged me to apply for the internship. I came in knowing I鈥檝e always been most interested in healthcare reporting. I went into the interview telling them that鈥檚 something I would be interested in doing for the publications, and it worked out really well.
Q: What sparked your interest in healthcare reporting?
My goal to be a healthcare reporter stems from wanting to make meaning of and give purpose to my own health issues I have dealt with throughout my life. As someone with chronic illnesses, it鈥檚 always motivated me to read about those who have lost control of aspects of their life because of medical issues but fought to live on their own terms anyway. I want to be able to learn about and share stories like that. Also, being able to spread awareness of little-known developing research or people who are fighting rare diseases is so important, and if I'm able to contribute to that even a little bit, I'll be proud.
Q: What were your expectations going in, and how have they matched reality?
I didn鈥檛 expect to be able to write as much of what I really have been wanting to write, so it鈥檚 been really fulfilling and just exciting to be able to pitch stories.
Q: What kind of stories are interns usually assigned?
The editors of each publication will usually forward me something they saw, sometimes it鈥檚 a daily story, or it鈥檒l be a more long-term story, so I鈥檒l take those. I do get to pitch a lot of my own, too, so I try to make sure they鈥檙e correlated.
Q: How has this internship shaped your career goals?
I think it's definitely reinforced that I do want to be a healthcare reporter. I've always just had that interest, but then actually being able to do it and see what it's like has been really helpful in setting up my career. It's been really cool to kind of get all the different contacts around Akron, who are hospital spokespeople, and I have them in my phone now, saved in the contacts, and I can just text them and ask if they can help me with the story, so that's been really cool too. I think I'm just more excited now than ever to be able to take these skills into the real world.
Q: What advice would you give to other students hoping to land a newsroom internship?
I think you definitely just have to put yourself out there. LinkedIn is really helpful because you can connect with people who are working in the spaces that you're hoping to go into. I've found that people in journalism are very willing to help younger journalists. A lot of people have had mentors who helped them throughout the years, and they just want to give back. I think it's pretty common that if you just shoot someone a message, they'll reply and say, 鈥淵eah, of course, I want to help you.鈥 Definitely just put yourself out there. Apply to as many as you can, and then once you apply, go find them on LinkedIn and try to connect. I think just forming those connections is the most helpful thing.