College internship experience: hands-on reporting away from the studio

By Jenny Huh

I’m blessed to attend a reputable journalism school. I’m blessed to have peers as adoring of journalism as I am. But I’m even more blessed to have been a part of the California Life HD crew, albeit during a global pandemic.

Though I would’ve preferred daily drives over to the L.A. studio and standing both behind and in front of professional cameras (and the gorgeous green screen!), three months as a CLHD intern taught me more about broadcast journalism and entertainment reporting than a college freshman could’ve ever expected.

Marco? He’s AMAZING. I remember our very first Zoom call back in June and how I immediately thought, this guy is a camera and Adobe Photoshop genius. Indeed he was. Super patient and caring too.

Heather? She’s also AMAZING. I wish I could’ve gotten to know her better and shared the green screen spotlight with her in the studio, haha. But really… Her camera presence and anchoring sparked a belief in me that I too could become as comfortable and professional in front of the camera soon. She was and will be a mentor, inspiration and teammate.

I’ve worked on professional segments (they’ll look great for your resume, by the way!), interviewed celebrities and public figures (did not see that one coming) and upgraded myself from a proficient Premiere editor to a somewhat advanced one (I hope Marco agrees).

I’m going to be honest — you’ll have to be proactive in doing a bit more than the typical “intern work.” At first, I added contacts to Mailchimp and wrote blog posts. It was initially boring and a bit disappointing, but the moment I asked to work on segments, Heather and Marco so willingly trusted me with that work. From that moment on, I spent such an enjoyable three months interviewing, writing, filming and editing.

What better summer could a broadcast journalism nerd like myself have wanted?