IWU Com and Theatre students are scattered across the country doing internships this summer, but few are farther away or covering more ground daily than Media Communication major Tricia Skiver. She is a news intern at KOTA-TV in Rapid City, South Dakota, learning what it takes to report stories in an area covering parts of two states that includes a national monument and various summer tourism spots.
Skiver says she chose South Dakota because of personal connections to the area, and also because it is a small television market where she is able to do a variety of newsroom tasks, including reporting and writing regular stories for the station's newscasts and website. Most days involve working with full-time reporters, but she also has stories of her own that require her to shoot video, edit and write scripts on deadline.
“It's such a positive feeling for me because they trust me to take a camera out on my own and they trust my abilities to shoot good video and write a good story,” she said.
The news internship lets Skiver put classroom skills into real-world practice. She has taken IWU classes in tv production, tv news, broadcast journalism and newswriting as well as producing the weekly sports highlight program, Wildcat Week on WIWU-TV. She says all the experiences and details in the Media Com program have prepared her well for a full summer on the job.
“Knowing…this is a camera, this is how it works…knowing you need lights, you need microphones, you need structure to make this all come together. ..I think I've been taught well all different aspects, with a great team that's very personal,” she said.
Watch video of Tricia's news day here.
