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INTERN(AL) AFFAIRS: JED STRONG

Seems like much more than a year has passed since I sat in my New Orleans' home last August, longing for a winning Saints season. Turns out I didn’t get to watch a game. Thanks, Katrina. 

I was born and raised in New Orleans — lived in the same house my entire life. Then Katrina hit. My family was lucky to get out. We stayed until the bitter end, even going so far as to buy enough food, water and flashlight batteries to last the better part of a week. When we decided to leave, traffic was already stalled to the north and west. Our only option was to go east, into the storm’s projected path. With three days worth of clothes, my parents and I took backroads that would all be destroyed just hours later.

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INTERN(AL) AFFAIRS: GREG MARX

Mornings were the best part of my day -- those walks from Grand Central Station to 30 Rockefeller Plaza seemed to encapsulate all the excitement and thrill of a day at NBC Nightly News. 

At the entrance to NBC News Headquarters presides a mural of Zeus (complete with white beard and lighting bolts in his grip). Underneath, it reads: "Wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy time." And there, right then, is when you understand the institution that resides three floors above; its power, responsibility and reason for being. I truly believe NBC Nightly News stands as a similar sentry at the gates: A guardian of the truth and of objective fact.

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INTERN(AL) AFFAIRS: MONIKA Plocienniczak

On my first day as a Nightly News intern, I was told that this would be like nothing I had ever experienced. I was already overwhelmed by the towering shape of 30 Rockefeller Plaza, the glittering studios and the sight of many broadcast personalities, often viewed from my television set, and now sprung into real form. Whether it was behind the lens or in front, I learned that every role in the newsroom is an integral cog of the news mechanism that comes with responsibility, talent, and, most importantly, a drive to be at the top.

My fellow interns and I have come a long way from loading ink in the copier to a gained insight and special knowledge of almost every aspect of the newsroom.

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INTERN(AL) AFFAIRS: ALEX LEBOWITZ

Here are some of my observations regarding Nightly News and broadcast journalism from the "inside" of the establishment:

Corporate interference: I arrived wondering whether the journalistic ethics of NBC News were ever violated because of ownership by a mass conglomerate (all the broadcast networks are owned by massive corporations). I received a strong response from the anchorman himself: Brian Williams was quick to point out that NBC covered the EPA’s decision to force General Electric to dredge the Hudson River for PCBs just like other news outlets. I decided to do a fact check. Sure enough, on August 1, 2001, Brian himself anchored one of the newscasts during which Nightly covered the story. Journalists are journalists, and I now know that at NBC, they value their journalistic integrity.

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INTERN(AL) AFFAIRS: MICHAEL AMALFE

I was pleasantly surprised my first day on the job at 30 Rock. I thought that I was walking into a very corporate environment at Nightly News. My only previous job experience had been working for the family business, and at basketball camps, where the interaction among employees is extremely informal. I expected the working environment and employee interaction at NBC to be vastly different, and I was worried about how I would carry myself. 

All my notions about Nightly proved to be false from the onset.

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INTERN(AL) AFFAIRS: CASEY DOLAN

When asked to write a short blog entry on my experience as a Nightly News intern, I paused to wonder how I might condense all I learned, observed and generally absorbed this summer into a few paragraphs. Maybe the best approach to describe my “Summer at Nightly” would be to acknowledge a key concepts that I have a new appreciation for.

Time. I discovered that it was not unusual to see Brian writing late copy five minutes before air or for a producer to receive a brand new story in the late afternoon and have a perfect package cut just hours later. While this might encourage my habit of procrastination at school, it does reveal the ability of Nightly to piece together 23 minutes of news in the most efficient and intelligent way. The producers and correspondents amazed me with their ability to tell an important story in such short periods of time.

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INTERN(AL) AFFAIRS: GARRETT HAAKE

When I first got accepted into the internship program at NBC Nightly News, the truth is, I was thinking about giving up on journalism. I questioned whether the life of a television journalist was really what I wanted. For me, this internship was an opportunity to jump in at the highest level and see if that life was really something to aspire to. Two weeks after final exams ended I quit my job, said goodbye to my family, friends and girlfriend in Texas, and left for a 12-week adventure in New York City.

An old friend told me that when I got to New York I would "catch the bug" and rediscover my passion for the news. She was right. Learning from, and working side-by-side with, the men and women who are the absolute best at what they do has refocused me. I want to be a reporter. I want to tell stories that bring the world to my community.

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