A Day in the Life of a Digital Content Intern

This summer, I have had the exciting opportunity to work as a Digital Content Intern for Cox Media Group Ohio. Specifically, I’m a writer and reporter for Dayton.com, one of Cox Ohio’s digital brands that produces exclusively vertical content. Verticals was a concept I was very new to at the beginning of my internship. It simply means, at Dayton.com, we produce content that falls under the “passion topics”, such as lifestyle, entertainment, food and other community-based interests. Our content is meant to be published in a way that allows our stories to filter throughout the other Cox Ohio brands.

Each day of my internship can vary dramatically, depending on what kind of stories I’m assigned or which ones I pitch that given day. I’m constantly talking to new and interesting people who I never would have expected to talk to had I not taken this job. The schedule below gives you an idea of what a ‘typical’ day as a digital content intern is like:

9:00 AM – Arrive at work. Say hello to friendly colleagues on the way to my desk.

9:05 AM – Get settled in. I will usually check Dayton.com and check out our content that was published very early in the morning. I will also check my email and respond to any new messages.

9:19 AM – The entire Dayton.com team gets together for our morning meeting. Our editor, Ashley Bethard, and the Director of Digital Content, Ron Rollins, collaborate with writers to discuss which stories did well from the day before, what we can do better, story analytics, etc.

9:30 AM – Writers catch the staff up on what’s happening in Dayton! Dayton.com is like “Dayton’s cheerleader.” We like to highlight the best and most interesting things happening in Dayton. We pitch story ideas as well as get assigned stories that our editors want covered.

10:30 AM - Research background info on any stories that I have on my plate, collect contact info for various sources, begin writing the timeliest piece for the day. (Stories that need to be up on our site ASAP)

10:45 AM - Get coffee from the breakroom.

11:30 AM - Pick photos or create a video that will do well online with my story. Work with my editors to edit and get the story published.

12:00 PM - Lunch! Sometimes, there is free catered lunch in the boardroom from a local restaurant or a food truck might stop by the employee parking lot. My favorite is when there’s breadsticks. Yum!

1:00 PM - I drive off site to one of Dayton’s beautiful Metroparks to shoot video for a fishing story we are working on.

2:00 PM - Our social media coordinator, Allegra, works with me to create the video in a compelling way that will do well online.

3:00 PM - Upload my final story for the day and check with editors to make sure we have all the content we need for the day.

3:15 PM - Sketch down any story ideas I might have for tomorrow, check my email one last time and say goodbye to my colleagues.