In 2022, I graduated from McGill with a B.A. and majors in Sociology (Hons.), English Cultural Studies, and a minor in History. I had always been a writer, but my foray into journalism was limited to working for McGill’s student newspaper the McGill Daily. However, working at the Daily made me realize how powerful journalism could be as a way to bridge the gap between larger social narratives and individual, affective storytelling.
The main reasons I was interested in the Gzowski internship was to gain the technical skills required for a career in public broadcasting and journalism as well as the institutional know-how of public broadcasting. I was interested in the internship’s emphasis on learning and introducing non-journalism students to the world of journalism. Since McGill doesn’t have a journalism school, I wanted to develop technical skills and learn how engagement works when part of a larger communications organization.
As an intern, I worked with teams across current affairs in local radio and television, and web writing and digital content production. For radio and television, I was responsible for pitching stories of interest/note daily, chasing those stories, interviewing guests, writing scripts for radio/TV, and gathering/editing tape to go on radio. For digital and web writing, I was responsible for pitching stories, interviewing experts, and writing up news stories that were already in progress.
The highlights of my internship were getting pitches chosen for stories I cared about and being able to get guests and topics on the air that I found interesting. I particularly enjoyed getting to gather tape and write up stories for community initiatives in Montreal that seemed especially relevant to younger audiences. In particular, getting articles out that I had done a lot of research on and seeing them pick up some steam in engagement was very exciting.
A challenge that I faced early on and continued to face was having to remember that fundamentally, this was a learning experience. I found that I had to constantly check in and remind myself that I didn’t have to know absolutely everything, and that I was there to gain new skills. To overcome this challenge, I always looked at the people I was working with and made sure to access their expertise since they were there to help.
I did not receive academic credit for this internship. CBC funded this internship, which made a world of difference. It meant that I could focus on contributing quality work to the company because I didn’t have to worry about taking on additional work in order to make ends meet.
I would like to extend a huge thank you to all of CBC Montreal’s current affairs teams, digital teams, and everyone else who made my internship such a rewarding and successful experience.
This internship had a huge impact on the end of university experience, as it has prepared me for full time work in journalism that would have previously been very inaccessible. This internship allowed me to take the skills and knowledge I had gained throughout my degree and transfer them into a career that I’m passionate about and find fulfilling. It made the end of my university experience exciting, as I wasn’t just worried about graduating and having no direction - it let me look forward to the future and the impact I could make within the world of journalism and public broadcasting.
