A Day in the Life of a Breaking News Intern

Here at CMGO, I am one of the two breaking news team (BNT) interns. In this position, we learn a lot on the fly and are surrounded by noise 24/7.

BNT relays new information across the newsroom while simultaneously providing it to the public. Every day is different because the major story is always different. Monday could be a tornado, Tuesday could be a major trial and Wednesday could be something else entirely.

So, this outline is going to show just a small snapshot of what a day as a breaking news intern could look like.

9:00 AM – Arrive at work. Walk to the BNT desk and greet everyone. Put all my belongings down to get coffee before even attempting to do anything else.

9:05 AM – Log into iNews and open up a multitude of websites that I use all the time (i.e. OHGO, Google Maps, Miami Valley Jails, WHIO, Outlook)

9:30 AM – Meet with the main desk where tasks are assigned to me and other members of the team by either Karyn Golden, the director of breaking news and content, or Ismail Turay, the BNT news editor.

9:35 AM – Begin working on any assigned tasks. If not, check for possible stories/bursts to be written from releases or police reports placed in iNews.

11:00 AM – Continue to look for more stories to write up, while keeping an ear out for the scanners.

2:00 PM – Inform the desk of stories ready to be posted if they haven’t gotten to it yet and head home.