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Journalism students in Taylor Hall are nervously milling about the main office. Instead of their usual autumn morning attire of comfortable jeans and sweatshirts, they have dressed in their finest skirts and suits, intent on making a good impression.
A recruiter from the Associated Press is in the building, and those students quick enough to have squeezed their names onto a sign-up sheet will be interviewed for one of the coveted internship openings at the professional news wire service.
Kent State JMC majors must complete at least one internship for academic credit to earn a degree. But some students compete for the openings because they want the experience, a better resume, or a foot in the door at their dream job.
Nancy Nussbaum, AP news editor for the Columbus bureau, said she normally visits four schools to look for interns but would only be recruiting at Ohio University and Kent State this fall.
We had to limit visits because of time and decided to go with these two because we’ve had success at both schools,” she said on a recent trip to campus. “We do a lot of hiring from both [state and private schools], but it boils down to talent.”
Whatever the level of talent they possess, however, most Kent State JMC majors believe their education is incomplete without a chance to do hands-on work in a professional media outlet.
It’s a belief shared by the current faculty and first established in the curriculum by the founding father of the department, William D. Taylor, Jr., almost 70 years ago. After launching the four-year journalism program in 1937, he made the Journalism Practice course a six-hour requirement for all majors, starting in 1941.
"The course is designed to give the same relative experience for the journalism student as an internship does for a medical student, or practice teaching for the student of education,” read his course description in the 1942 summer catalog.
As the department diversified its range of majors throughout the years, the internship program has remained the backbone of the JMC degree.
Students in print and broadcast media, advertising, and public relations have graduated not only with an academic knowledge of their fields, but a taste of the real world as well.
Photographer Pat Jarrett interviews with Associated Press editor and intern recruiter Nancy Nussbaum.Bonnie Bolden, manager of recruiting and development at the Akron Beacon Journal, affirmed Taylor’s original vision for the JMC program on a recent recruiting visit.
“ I love Kent State,” she said. “I think Kent State grads are extremely prepared. What you offer here is a good balance between theory and practice.”
What do JMC students get out of an internship that they can’t get in the classroom? Read more about what they’ve done and where they’re going.
Print journalism: Newspapers and magazines hire student interns for reporting and editorial writing, copy editing, design, photography and photo illustration.
Electronic media: Students majoring in broadcast concentrations of JMC find work in regional and national markets.
Advertising and Public Relations: Kent State JMC grads aren’t a hard sell when it comes to getting hired as college interns.
Click here to view video interviews about the benefits of JMC's internship requirment.
Click here for specific JMC internship resources.
Click here to return to the JMC home page.
Story by Rekha Sharma
Photos by Sarah McCrory
Design by Paul Bucalo
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