Pulliam interns begin reporting jobs at papers across Indiana

0
140

When Kellyn Harrison got a front page byline at her internship paper this month, she Tweeted out that it was surreal — she had been holding the Monticello Herald Journal in her hands since pre-school and now she was working for it. The Ball State junior, who has served as editor-in-chief for Byte Magazine at BSU, is one of nine college students participating in the Eugene S. Pulliam Internship Program.


Each year, students are matched with papers by the HSPA Foundation for a 10-week, paid opportunity through the program named in honor of the late publisher of The Indianapolis Star and The Indianapolis News.


“I think we have another great group of students representing all parts of the state,” said Juli Metzger who is serving as a mentor for the 2021 Pulliam class. Students have already been reaching out to consult with Metzger and ask for advice.


“What’s so gratifying is that they are enthusiastic and anxious to jump in and do the work,” said Metzger, associate lecturer in Journalism at Ball State. During her 30-year journalism career, Metzger has served as editor of three newspapers and president and publisher of three others.


This year, The Indianapolis Recorder received Madison Smalstig from Indiana University as a Pulliam intern. Smalstig has written more than 140 stories for her college paper, the Indiana Daily Student. She’ll be a senior and is majoring in Journalism and Spanish.


The Recorder operates with two reporters, so introducing interns into the mix will give the regular staffers an opportunity to work on projects and go a little deeper with their stories, said The Recorder’s editor, Oseye Boyd.
Boyd said the program will give interns the confidence and tools to do the job at a newspaper.


“When I had an internship, it was invaluable to me to get that real-life experience,” Boyd said.


Ellie Albin is also a Journalism major from IU and will also work this summer for an Indianapolis publication — the Indianapolis Business Journal. Albin, a sophomore, was editor-in-chief of her high school paper in Fishers, N the Red.


Taylor Dixon is majoring in Multimedia Journalism at Franklin College. The senior works for The Franklin and said with reporting she appreciates, “the endless possibilities of what a day can bring.” Dixon will spend her summer at The Journal Review in Crawfordsville.


Brea Haller has served as editor-in-chief of the Indiana Statesman at Indiana State University where she’s worked for two years. Haller, a senior majoring in Communications, is at the Tribune Star in Terre Haute this summer.


Tristan Jackson is the former editor-in-chief at the IDS at IU. The reporter and editor is also an award-winning designer and will be a senior this year majoring in Journalism. Jackson will spend his summer at The Herald-Times (Bloomington).


Communications major Sawyer Osmun worked on her student newspaper at Hanover College where she covered the Covid-19 pandemic and athletics. Osman, a senior who is also on Hanover’s track and field team, is interning at The Herald Bulletin in Anderson.


During her senior year in high school, Tori Smith wrote for the Kankakee Valley Post News in DeMotte. That experience convinced her to continue in journalism: “I saw who and where I wanted to be,” Smith wrote in her application. This summer, the Ivy Tech Community College sophomore will be working at the Rennselaer Republican.


Franklin College senior Taylor Wooten has served as co-executive editor of The Franklin newspaper and has also worked for TheStatehouseFile.com. The Multimedia Journalism major will spend her summer at The Daily Journal in Franklin.


“I think this group is going to be hugely helpful to the newspapers they represent and will get a great experience because of the gift that the Pulliams and HSPA have given them,” Metzger said. “I think they really appreciate what that means.”