Allyson Bird - Internship Diary

Sept. 29

I'm getting used to the way this internship works. Though my bureau produces stories from Washington for our individual papers much like a wire, it can't compete with the staff and resources of the Associated Press when it comes to breaking news. So, the articles I write have to take on new angles or more analysis.

A story I would have spent a day on at a previous internship takes several, and the time element is compounded by editing. I've never been coached this much, but it's great.

The New York Times scooped us on this college voting story I was working on, putting it on their front page while I was wrapping mine up. My editors had me rework and localize the story, but nearly a week passed before I heard about the article getting any play in our newspapers. I was disappointed that I'd spent so much time writing and rewriting. Monday I found out it ran in Richmond, and though happy to see the byline, I still couldn't read through that story again.

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