In a game of “pass the quote,” I heard that my friend Stephanie Rosenblatt, from the Miami Herald, said this:

The success of the online communicating with the public, serving the public and becoming successful, will succeed or fail based wholly on how well people inside the newsroom communicate with one another (paraphrased)

Too true. The problem is that in my experience, communication in the newsroom sucks. We’re journalists, it’s our job to communicate, but we can’t do it with each other.

And the burden falls on the online departments to communicate and to be visible in everything they do, because the rest of the newsroom doesn’t really understand what it’s all about.

Just something to think about. How can online journalists make themselves a part of the newsroom society? How do you show progress and achievement? If you do not make your work visible, how will your colleagues know what is possible?

Experience

6/17/08 - Present
• Multimedia Intern at The Miami Herald
  producing and packaging multimedia while learning how to build, work with and enhance databases for news stories.

Classes end next week. That means I have 8 days to shoot a video, edit 3 videos, put together a Soundslides project, write two papers, and take 2 exams. Whew!

So why am I wasting time blogging?

Well, I’m really excited because I’m going to do a 12-week multimedia internship at The Miami Herald this summer. I’m very happy, but very nervous. Will they ask me to stop blogging? Will I do a good job? Will moving back in with my parents be a bad idea?

More thoughts on this after the rush. Winter break is going to be wonderful.

…thank you for curing my insomnia.

Check out this awesome turkey video from onBeing.

This was my first real Thanksgiving since I moved to Gainesville. Lovely. Good company and good food, since I didn’t have to cook. :) Got sent back with pounds of leftovers.

It was accompanied by a trip to The Miami Herald. Black Friday makes for a slow news day, but it was kinda cool to be there on the anniversary of Jose Varela’s breakdown. Security was hardcore.

The Herald is working on some really fantastic projects and Rick Hirsch, multimedia editor, gave me a tour of the near-empty newsroom. I sat in on a budget meeting as well: How many different ways can you write the same Black Friday story? A good trip.

Though it’s been 6 years since I walked into high school for the first time wearing ragged jeans and my younger brother’s T-shirt, my taste in clothing hasn’t changed. I’m most comfortable in the shirt and jeans that have gone through the washer so many times they hang together by three threads.

Which is one of the explanations for why last weekend was so challenging.

On Thursday, I had job/internship interviews with The Miami Herald and The St. Petersburg Times. An event that requires the full pantsuit and heels. The interviews went very well, in fact, the best I’ve had yet.

Friday evening was the cocktail event for the Alligator’s 2nd Century Celebration. A little less formal, but military boots paired with a skirt: Not cocktail material. I met some really interesting people and I had a great time, but at midnight I was really glad to walk home in my socks.

Then on Saturday, the Celebration was in full swing. As the new media managing editor, I had to sit up on the dais. I know everyone was too busy talking and eating to look at me, but I’m not the most graceful eater…so I kept my mouth shut.

My parents would be delighted to learn that I’ve finally entered the realm of professionalism, I can dress myself without being an embarrassment and I’ll keep the heels on until midnight. (Which is when I assume everyone is too tired or inebriated to look at my feet.)

I understand that appearances matter and that I’ll never get rid of the heels for good. As one of my professors pointed out: I’d hate to lose a good job to a moron who dressed up because I dressed down. But I don’t have to like it.

This week, I ran into a professor who had seen all three versions of “dressed-up me.” “Now, there’s the Megan I recognize.” As much as I look forward to life after college, I’ll enjoy my jeans and t-shirts as long as I can. Mom always did warn me not to grow up too fast.

Last weekend I flew to Fort Lauderdale, Florida for the National Writer’s Workshop. It’s a two-day series of lectures by writers and journalists covering “interview skills, crafting story ideas, the legal responsibilities of writers and writing techniques.”

I was a little disappointed in the lectures. Although “Dirty old men, low rent crooks and the book of Proverbs works: How getting people to talk will help you gather the reporting to write a narrative investigation,” (that’s a really long title!) presented by Manny Garcia of the Miami Herald, and a few others were very interesting and helpful to student journalists, most of the lectures seemed to be aimed at getting a book published or introducing online journalism concepts to those of the print orientation. I stopped in all of the online journalism lectures, but they were mostly aimed at newbies.

I did have interviews with The Miami Herald, The South Florida Sun-Sentinel, and the Associated Press, but they turned out to be more like information sessions (how to apply for this particular internship with this particular organization) than actual job interviews.

But I didn’t don the monkey suit for nothing. I’m seriously applying for multimedia internships (or jobs) with The Miami Herald and AP.

Next week I’ll be heading out to SNDBoston, which promises both educational and networking opportunities, plus a chance to visit with some of my northern friends. I’m particularly excited that Adrian Holovaty and Brian Storm will be there.