PD In DC: CSIS Journalism Practicum
The 2016-2018 Public Diplomacy (PD) cohort had an amazing opportunity to work with the Center for Strategic International Studies (CSIS) in January 2018. The cohort participated in a week-long journalism practicum experience where they met with journalists, human rights experts, news editors, policy experts, and people working with organizations that support journalism, freedom of expression and freedom of the press.
The first day was a whirlwind as we met many different people from CSIS that would help us create our final project, a long-form feature with interactive visual elements, and started brainstorming what would be our focus for the project. Some preliminary decisions about topics and teams had been made during winter break to expedite some of the work, so our topic was the Rohingya crisis. We decided to examine this crisis through a journalism lens since Myanmar is a closed-media environment. There were three teams: data visualization, audio and video, and website design to ensure that all the work we needed to do using our CSIS team leaders and resources could be completed that week.
Day two was arguably my favorite because we basically had an entire day of media training. Scott Morgan lead the workshop, gave us tips and talked through everything from how to make your subject feel comfortable on camera to asking the right questions that get you to the perfect soundbite. One exercise gave everyone the chance to be interviewed, and from each interview we learned more important points about being the interviewer/interviewee. It honestly felt like a crash course into the world of broadcast and digital journalism, which I was incredibly thankful for because, in PD, we always talk about prepping our principles, talking points, etc, but this was the missing component that exposed me to both sides of the camera.
Our project really started coming together by the third and fourth days. Personally, I think it was because we spent most of our sessions both days with journalists and advocates of free press and speech. They put into perspective what we as a cohort were attempting to do with this practicum. It was encouraging to have their feedback on our project in terms of our multimedia elements because that definitely kept me motivated while learning how to use Adobe Premiere and inserting subtitles.
The final day felt like one last push to get everything done, which means I don’t remember too much about the specifics of the day except everyone convening to review our temporary final product. I was impressed with the skills and collaboration of my cohort in pulling this off even though I knew we still had a separate deadline and organizational things to work through for the written narrative of the project. After reviewing everything and practicing the presentation, it was time to show our work to just about everyone we’d been engaging with all week, including CSIS’s CEO, Dr. Hamre. Needless to say, the presentation went well and the feedback definitely helped strengthen components of the written narrative.
I walked away from this practicum with a different perspective on what it means to be a journalist, and how public affairs/public relations professionals can better interact with journalists. One of our speakers during the week talked about knowing what journalists need, understanding their beats and realizing that they are humans. I now know what that really means beyond pitching to journalists and inviting them to cover events thanks to this practicum. As a member of the audio and video team, I learned some basics of video production and audio editing that I can definitely use and expand upon throughout my career. This experience went beyond boot camp, class lectures, and other projects for me, and I have to say that it was incredible. It made me wish that other Newhouse programs had similar opportunities to temporarily step into the shoes of a different program and produce some awesome, exciting and meaningful final project/product like my cohort did with CSIS.
That may be wishful thinking, or maybe some cohorts already do this and I’m just not aware. Anyway, I am incredibly grateful to everyone who helped make this experience possible for our cohort. It was certainly one of many defining moments in my experiences with the PD program. The practicum was also the kind of welcome to D.C. that was both intellectually and socially stimulating.
Our project went through more drafts and edits in the weeks post-practicum, but I am excited to say it’s finally finished and published! Check it out here.
