Starting Tuesdays at the North Shore

Happy belated Juneteenth! While some had the holiday off, I was at the office (remotely), writing up a story on a knitting group meeting that I attended last week and having a preliminary interview on a potential story about a woman taking care of her mother with dementia and the communications company she started for people in similar situations.

Tuesday I finally started at the North Shore office, where I will now be at every Tuesday. It was very nice not having to drive all the way to Greensburg. Also, one of my supervisors that I have not seen since my first day was back from vacation, so it was nice to catch up and plan a bit for the rest of my internship. I went out to Stage AE and talked to some concert fans camping outside the venue for a concert in the evening. It was a nice quick story to do, and you can read it here. As for the rest of the day, I came up with some potential story ideas and edited some stories after comments from my supervisor.

Fans camp outside Stage AE for boygenius concert on Tuesday, June 20, 2023.

For Wednesday, I was back in Greensburg for a quick day before the partnership's weekly intern meeting. I did not work on much, but there was a staff meeting across all newsrooms, which discussed cultivating sources, and it was very helpful. I also turned around a few press releases for short stories. Then, at our weekly intern meeting, an editor from The Trib, who I have not worked with yet, presented on style and self-editing, which was also very helpful, as I tend to not edit that much when I write; I kind of am usually just a writer when I write, then just an editor when I edit, which is not the best habit and one that I need to work on. I also got to interview evening news anchor Lindsey Watson at my most local television station and Point Park alumni for a freelance project, which was surreal, as I have been watching her on tv for like eight years and look up to her so much.

I think Thursday was the first day I actually felt like a reporter. Most of the staff was in the office and back from vacation, and I was busy for most of the day. One of the other interns based mainly as Greensburg came back and actually is someone I met at the SPJ conference in Chicago in April, so pretty small world. I am really excited for another young person and intern in the office. As for work, I reached out to some local superintendents for comment on the Nation's Report Card standardized testing results, which show significant drops in reading and math score in 13 year olds. It was very difficult getting in touch, as schools are out of session. I also worked on a few stories about the Westmoreland Land Trust's upcoming preservation projects and programs. I worked on setting up interviews about a new pastor at a local church and finally got the press release to turn into a story about famous rapper Farruko coming to Pittsburgh in the fall for the Hispanic Heritage Festival. I also reached out to his team and hope to set up an interview for a profile.

Friday I just wrapped up the test scores story and planned for the week ahead.

Here are my stories from the week!

~ boygenius fans camp out early in hopes of prime Stage AE spots

~ Single-lane restrictions begin on eastbound Interstate 70 in Rostraver

~ Street sign sale benefits Whitehall Historical Society

~ Mike Reese Memorial 5K registration opens

~ Workshop for writers benefits scholarship fund

Cannot believe next week will mark halfway through my internship!