USC'S
Washington Correspondent
Justin Chapura chronicles
his national internship experience
 Justin
Chapura, 20, is a third-year print journalism student minoring
in political science. He is currently spending the spring
semester
interning with Congress Daily, a twice-daily newspaper considered
to
be a definitive source for nonpartisan news and analysis
on
congressional happenings.
He is also part of the spring class for the Politics & Journalism
Semester, a program offered to 13-14 students internationally
each
semester through the Washington Center for Politics & Journalism.
The
class attends seminars twice a week with important figures
in politics
and journalism while working full time for their respective
news
bureaus.
Justin is from Sumter, SC. He has covered campus news for
The
Gamecock and worked with the marketing department at
The State to promote columbiatunes.com.
He recently left a position
at Carolina Productions overseeing the student movie theatre
at the
Russell House.
Feb. 7
WASHINGTON - A very fun town indeed. I've
been to Washington several times throughout my life, visiting
relatives in the area. But something
is distinctly different and about striking out into the city
with the "young professional" mindset. I'm eager
to begin all that I've got to learn and do.
Read more>>
Feb. 15
A week has gone by and more has happened than
I can mention. I have acclimatized to the workings of CongressDaily (CD),
and am in a pretty set routine. Here's an insider's view
at how CD does it twice a day:
Read more>>
Feb. 21
Happy President's Day! The whole staff at CongressDaily is
celebrating, because a) we get today off, and b) Congress is
in recess
for a whole week! This means no AM edition for lack of Congress-related
news.
Read more>>
Feb. 25
Several inches of snow ending a period of
relative warmth reflected the varied level of activity experienced
this week by one area intern, said sources close to the student.
Read more>>
Mar. 2
Somebody LexisNexis me. For those of you not that savvy on
search engines, that means I published a story with a byline!
Read more>>
Mar. 8
This is a short entry, I just wanted to comment
that my first published story was picked up by Government
Executive, a sister publication to CongressDaily, to run
in their online edition.
Read more>>
Mar. 31
Lesson Number One: Do not let the routine
bring you down.
Read more>>
April 18
Just what is a journalist? That was the topic of a very interesting
National Press Club panel discussion two Fridays ago on the
8th. Its panelists included a reporter from my paper, and
three of the arguably most famous names in the world of political
blogs- Ana Marie Cox, Garrett Graff, and Jeff Gannon.
Read more>>
May 16
In essence, the filibuster fight on the Senate floor continues
to loom ever closer. Most Americans are just now tuning
in to this quarrel over judicial nominees, probably just after
the "Justice Sunday" snafu.
Read More>>
June 2
My adventures in Washington ended last week, with a final
story covering the European Commission's trade woes with
China followed by cake at the newsroom. Afterwards, a group of the remaining interns
got together at the Press Club for one last tear-filled round of drinks,
memories and free tacos.
Read more>> |
