Major: American Studies
Organization: Radio Boston, WBUR
Location: Boston, MA
For the past two months I have been interning at WBUR’s Radio Boston, a daily radio show that deals with news, stories, music and more as it relates to Boston and the region. As an intern I am basically helping to get the show on the air by performing research, booking guests, going out and “getting sound,” gathering archival sound, editing audio, pitching story ideas, and writing scripts. The environment of a daily news show is both exciting and nerve-wracking. Every day a show must air live from 3-4 pm no matter what. But this also means that each day brings new topics and new tasks. For example, the other day I co-produced a segment on backyard chickens in Boston and had to teach myself all about this emerging trend in poultry keeping. I doubt that I would otherwise have had the chance or the time to educate myself on such an eccentric, yet fascinating topic. Working at NPR’s Boston Station has taught me to always be on my toes, ready and flexible for what the day’s news might bring. It has also helped me understand how to tell stories through the news. How to use sound to convey an experience, person or scene. How to frame an issue or story so that it takes root and gets people talking. And, how to write short sentences.
About the photo: This is the Radio Boston whiteboard where producers and hosts schedule the week’s segments. Thursday the 16th looks particularly full—not all those segments were lucky enough to make it to air. Though the board doesn’t reflect it, Wednesday the 15th was a breaking news day! Almost all of the segments were cut or postponed.
