Internship Highlight- Aaron Wright
What it is, what it do?! This is Aaron Wright, a senior CSS brother and Journalism major at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism. For this blog post, I want to discuss my time as an intern at The Baltimore Banner. During the summer, I wrote stories and news articles for this startup news publication. I worked with some of the best journalists out there, while covering a complex and fantastic city. One of my articles was even picked up by the Associated Press and distributed to news publications around the world. I look back on my internship as a test of what I learned in such a short period of time, considering I declared my major my junior year. I’ve been placed outside of my comfort zone with interviewing people during primary elections; I’ve worked on a tight crunch when I broke the story on an aspect of the Shanteari Weams saga; I explored many different parts of Baltimore and came to understand the city a lot better than a viewing of “The Wire.” I say all of this because I want to impart my readers with a piece of advice: don’t be afraid to explore new possibilities.
When I started my internship, I couldn’t believe that I got into something really special. A startup, nonprofit news publication that’s working to innovate the news in Baltimore by telling important, impactful and interesting stories. I learned a lot about how a big time newsroom operates and how I could bring those skills to The Black Explosion, Weekly Roundup and Drop the Pop. At times it was hard; I experienced writer’s block for my story on book deserts in Baltimore, had difficulties with organ procurement organizations, and figuring out how to pace myself with content creation. However, I look back on my internship at The Baltimore Banner with fondness. The interns and journalists that I worked with were fantastic, and they made me feel like I was part of the team. I learned about journalism techniques while having lunch, and I made some very strong connections. While all of this was somewhat new to me, I adjusted to the environment while adding my signature “flair” to everything that I do.
In all of the situations that I’ve been placed in during my time at The Baltimore Banner, I learned to relish in the unfamiliar and learn new things about news writing, interviewing, and serving the public. The unfamiliar can be scary, but I believe that’s the best time to learn something new, experience a new adventure, and share that knowledge with others. If you want any tips on news writing or journalism skills and internships, don’t be afraid to hit me up. I’d be more than happy to help bring more brothers into the world of journalism.
