My Name is Hinzmann...

Blogger's note, this was found as a word document saved on my computer from when I allowed our intern to use it. It was not intended for public reading, but I had to share it, because that's the kind of guy I am. The photos are also my own addition.

Dear Journal,

   I've been an intern here at The News-Herald for a couple of months now, it's been a pretty trying experience. Most of the staffers are pretty cool, though few actually talk to me. There are these two reporters, well one reporter and one web editor, they just heckle and tease me constantly. Sometimes when I leave the office, I'm almost in tears.

   Other than just making fun of me, they hide my things, steal my food, and then once, they even made me go costume shopping and try on dozens of Halloween costumes. The worst part of that was that not only did they post them all on the website, but one of me as a penguin was used on the front page of the Sunday paper.

   Now all of my co-workers at my paying job keep making fun of me, they even laminated a copy and keep it on the fridge in the break room.

   Then the worst thing ever happened, I hadn't screwed up in hours and things were going well. I went out with Dave to help him shoot video, all went well. I was awesome in that I only messed up twice, a new record for me while out on assignment. That's when it happened.

   I somehow, somewhere lost the video camera on my way from the parking lot to the car, or from the car to the building. I searched for hours and hours, and never found a trace of it. I'm now very worried that I'm gonna get fired, and I don't even get paid. It makes me sad.

   I wish that they would forgive me, but I know I have to be the worst intern ever. I can't even hold onto a camera while sitting in a car. Somehow I'll find a way to make this up to Big Dave, I yearn for his approval. Once he accepts me, I'll work on Rene, I'm sure once I figure out how to copy and paste a link all will be well with her.

   Thanks for listening journal, you're the only one that gets me.

My name is Dennis Hinzmann

This blog post is 100 percent fictional. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely intentional and he knows it.

The Life of an Intern: First Experiences as an Intern

Just another of the News-Heralds blogs, this was another way we thought to get our interns immersed in the fast paced world of professional journalism.  Oh and that penguin she mentions, it was my idea as well. This is the first post in an all new blog, this one comes from intern Kellie Barrett.

The Life of an Intern: First Experiences as an Intern: 

When I began my internship at The News Herald Newspaper, I didn’t think I would spend one morning driving to a Halloween store and getting my picture taken in a bunch of crazy costumes. And I especially never thought that a picture of me in a penguin costume would end up on the front page.

Experiences like that have made my internship interesting. So far, it has not only been a great learning experience, it has been fun. I’ve met a lot of interesting and funny people in and out of the newsroom.

I spend the two days a week I’m there writing so I’m generating a lot of clips. I’ve covered interesting stories like a Downriver man who lost over 200 pounds with bariatric surgery and an event that consisted of high speed races to benefit cardiac care at Henry Ford Health System.

My stories have been published so I’m generating a lot of clips which is so important for an intern. But I’m also getting to know reporters and editors who seem to know everyone and everything Downriver. I’m also getting to know my community a little better and the nice people who live there.

It’s also nice to know that I still have about half my internship left to keep writing and learn about journalism skills such as editing and paginating. Basically, I still have time to learn as much as I can about the newspaper business and what it takes to be a good journalist.

Neat-O

   Life as a journalist is always interesting, no two days are ever alike.  Two very neat things have happened to me in the last three days that I just have to share with you all.
   First off, I covered a fantastic event on Saturday that was called Victory Day. I've posted the slide show already on our site, and a large story will be running soon. There are also 7 short videos on our site that will be linked to those stories, so if you are interested in that at all, I encourage you to check back on the News-Herald site in the future. The event would have been special enough, as I'm always amazed when people, especially kids are willing to give back.
   Victory Day was all about helping children with either physical or mental disorders and giving them a day to be just one of the group instead of sticking out in the crowd. Personally I volunteered to cover the event (Yes that means I didn't get paid to do it.) and I did so for numerous reasons. I would be remiss though if I didn't say that one of the reasons was that former University of Michigan football coach Lloyd Carr was the keynote speaker. For those that know me, they know that I'm a huge college football fan, and that UM has been my favorite team since I was young. Carr won a national championship in 1997 and forever made himself one of my heroes. I went just to hear him speak.
   However, when I got there, the opportunity to speak with the coach one on one arose, and he made himself even a better person in my eyes. He spoke to me like an equal, and even took the time out to introduce me to other people from a couple of other news organizations and in the community as a whole just because we were talking as they walked up.  That impressed me two-fold, one that he thought enough of me to introduce me to them, and two, he actually remembered my name, something I wouldn't expect many people that met hundreds of people that day to do.  He also impressed me in the sense that from talking to him, he was truly passionate about helping these kids and not just there for publicity.  You could see it in his eyes that he really cared.
   The second interesting thing that happened popped up this morning.  As part of my job here at the News-Herald I am expected to check on Facebook and Twitter from time to time. I logged into my FB page this morning, and what I saw as the most recent update shocked me a bit.  True it was nothing monumental but it was really cool. A story I wrote for the Sunday issue of the paper that included a quote from Congressman John Dingell had been shared via his Facebook page to all of his followers.  For a young journalist, it was just a really 'Neat-O" moment.
   Thanks for reading, and I promise I'll get back to the Nerdy with my next post. I've got plenty of topic ideas ready to go.