Lauralei Kraski

Fall 2015
Internship Experience Journal Entry 1
Tuesday October 6, 2015

Summary of Application and Interview Experience

The University of Pittsburgh English Departments Internship Manager connected me with

Pittsburgh Magazine editorial internship. I received an email notification in July informing me
that positions had opened up in the editorial department of the Pittsburgh Magazine. As the
notice asked, I sent my resume to the Associate Editor.
A few days later, the Associate Editor asked to see samples of my writing, as well as several
hypothetical blog pitches, because that is such a large portion of my job as an intern. I sent three
blog pitchesone for each of their blog sites so that she could see my versatility as a writer. A
week and a half later, I received an email from the Associate Editor requesting an interview;
however, because I live out of state and was not yet back in Pittsburgh, we scheduled a phone
conference. Both the Associate Editor and the Digital Editor asked me questions about my
previous experience, my writing, my school schedule and potential availability, and, of course,
about my perspective on the city of Pittsburgh. It was a very productive and positive
conversation.
When I arrived back in Pittsburgh several weeks later, and after speaking with my references, the
Associate Editor contacted me about scheduling a second interview in person at their offices.
Although largely similar to the first interview, the second asked that I pitch an impromptu blog
idea on the spot, which I did and it was actually published last weekend (I will describe that
more below.)
Upon leaving the offices, I realized how much I wanted the position. When I initially applied, I
did so on a whim, because I wanted experience writing in as many types of work environments
as possible and I thought that I should at least try, even if the mere experience and practice of
interviewing was all I got out of it. Once I visited the offices, met the editors, and learned more
about what I would be doing, all of the sudden I really wanted it. Within three days, much to my
happiness, the Associate Editor got back to me saying that I had received the editorial position
starting August 26.

Editorial Intern Weekly Experience:

My main job is to produce posts for the Pittsburgh Magazines daily blog called The 412.
Normally, my editor will send me a link or a press release in regards to an event or story that he
would like us to cover. Because The 412 is a daily blog, material cycles in and out rapidly. I
want to prove that I am an invested, creative, rigorous, and hard-working intern.
I work on site Mondays and Wednesdays from 9am-Noon, and Fridays 9am-4pm. Tuesdays I
work 12:30-2:30 off site between my classes. My routine every day normally begins with
stopping in and saying hello to the Digital Editor, Rich, who is my supervisor and who gives me
daily assignments. I create a list based on his layout for the week, determining which
assignments are high priority and which ones can go on the back burner. A typical day usually
includes writing one or two blogs posts, which I turn in electronically to my editor who looks it
over before plugging it into the back end of the site and then publishing it. Working in the media

world demands flexibility. I do not follow a strict schedule or routine every day; however, there
are certain tasks I make sure I accomplish every shift. I make sure to go into the back end of the
magazines website and sift through calendar event submissions to be posted on our online
calendar and I always check my email. I also always give my editors updates at the end of my
shift, listing all that I accomplished that day and where to find it in our GoogleDrive account that
we share. This way, when I leave for the day, they dont have to spend precious time and energy
searching for my work and can turn it over however they choose with ease.
To give you a specific look at my workdays, I have laid out my To Do List from September 26
October 1, 2015 below.

Monday
High Priority

Started writing Photography 412 blog.

Checked calendar.

Back Burner

Started Pet Expo 412 blog.

Tuesday
High Priority

Wrote Photography 412 blog.

Checked calendar.

Back Burner

Added bar listings to magazine website.

Wrote Pet Expo 412 blog.

Wednesday
High Priority

Wrote PM Weekend newsletter blurb about Gallery Crawl.

Wrote Lunar Eclipse + Supermoon 412 Blog.
Checked calendar.

Back Burner

Added bar listings to magazine website.

Friday
High Priority

Finished proofreading Photography 412 blog.

Formatted Photography 412 in the back end of the site with images.
Wrote Building for Bennett 412 blog.
Fact checked sports article.
Wrote Opera Market Square 412 blog.
Checked calendar.

Back Burner

Add Bar listings to website.

Adapting Performance and Learning

I produced and published my first original work this week. Photographers Zoom in on their
Favorite Spots in Pittsburgh, I built from the ground up, from the conception of the idea, to the
interviews, to the format, to the writing. Through this process, I learned so much about writing
my own material. How do you tackle questions of formatting the structure and flow of a piece?
How do you phrase questions to be creative, open-ended, and full of opportunity for the
interviewee to really get involved with the material and their answers? I even learned the
technical aspect, inserting content that is ready-to-publish in the back end of the magazines
website. Though this is not part of my general responsibilities, the information is valuable to
know.
Through every piece I have written so far, I learned more about not only how to write, but how to
think when approaching a subject. No matter what day of the week, no matter the subject, no
matter how little sleep I got the night before, there is always an initial, ever-so-slight panic in my
mind when I am staring at the blank screen at the start of every new blog post. It helps to at least
write out the events basic information first, like the date, the time, the location, just to get
something on the screen in front of you.
There are two important phrases I tell myself as I am writing a piece. One, be critical. When my
editor hands me a link to an event, do I think that this is something that people will actually care
about enough to read? If not, my editor has given me the go-ahead to speak my mind. Two, be
exploratory. The magazine is all about Pittsburgh, and Pittsburgh always has plenty of stuff in the
works for even the most random or oddly specific situation.
For example, with the Lunar eclipse + Supermoon 412 blog, my editor told me what he always
tells me Relate it to Pittsburgh. That is the challenge of working for the Pittsburgh Magazine,
or any media source. How I go about relating it to Pittsburgh changes with each piece; you are
constantly asked to be informed and creative about what Pittsburgh has going on. In regards to a
lunar eclipse, I chose to create a basic how to guide to enjoying the spectacle in Pittsburgh. But
what really impressed my editor was the fact that I added in a bit about a special viewing that
two observatories just outside of the city are holding for the eclipse. He did not know about
them, and they are useful for Pittsburghers who are actually invested in seeing and enjoying the
night. In order to make the blog post fresh and relevant to Pittsburghers, you have to explore the
territory you are walking on.

One roadblock popped up this week that truly redefined what this position would mean to me
and how I would interact with the experience. One of my fellow interns quit due to personal
reasons surrounding her academic life. A member higher up in the editorial sector of the
magazine left as well. Though her leaving had been months in the planning and it was a
completely peaceful goodbye, there nonetheless is an enormous void in the magazine staff,
which I plan on helping fill in my own ways. Of course, I do not have the experience nor resume
to attempt to move into her position, but I spoke with the digital editor who seems very interested
in amping up their Instagram presence, and because I have social media experience, I would like
to try to step into that role by suggesting methods to improve that vessel of information sharing
for the magazine as well as writing and posting the material. I also plan on taking on more
writing and pitching more ideas of my own than I already am. Though I am disappointed to lose
the Associate Editor, because she was so wonderful to work with and was incredibly kind and
intelligent, I think this is a great opportunity to spread my wings in the magazine and truly make
a name for myself there.