Broadcast journalism
During my freshman year, I had no idea what my future would hold. I knew I loved journalism, but the challenging, busy lifestyle was not something I was prepared to commit to. However, as I kept reporting and journalism slowly took more and more of my time, I accidentally fell in love with reporting, and now, I can't see myself in any other job.
Scared by that realization, I did some in-depth research on different journalism-related careers. I found that I could combine my public speaking experience from theatre with my journalism skills to be a news anchor. The opportunity for more dynamic storytelling with multimedia elements and the collaborative nature of the work drew me in, and I decided I wanted to be a political correspondent for a broadcast network.
Specifically, I plan to work as hard as I can until I take Dana Bash's job as anchor and chief political correspondent for CNN. After this analysis and realization that my goals are far bigger than I ever expected, I got to work learning everything I can about broadcast journalism, and I started my internship with Atlanta's top local news network, WSB-TV, in January 2025.
In 2017, I visited the Channel 2 newsroom with one of my teachers. I met anchor Justin Farmer and other members of the WSB team, who showed me around their office space and let me sit in front of the camera. This experience inspired my current goal to be a political correspondent for CNN.
MARIA LYONS
I went from visiting WSB in elementary school and seeing their news van for the first time...
To recognizing the van every time I go out to report for a story...
To joining the team as WSB's newest intern!
Through my internship, I am gaining hands-on experience and learning what it's like to be part of a professional newsroom. I am working directly with Condace Pressley, the director of community and public affairs, and the rest of the WSB team. Aside from learning about broadcast journalism and becoming a productive member of the WSB team, my main goal with the internship is to learn the multimedia skills I need to produce videos for the Southerner. I am actively working with Multimedia Managing Editor Stella St. Clair and other staff members to help our website get the multimedia excellence badge from SNO.
Podcast
When the College Board announced changes to the document-based question for AP World History, a class that over 200 sophomores at my school were taking, I decided to make a podcast interviewing students about their opinions on the changes. I also interviewed an AP World History teacher to see how she was adapting her curriculum to prepare students for the new rubric.
Using Spotify's Anchor tool, I learned how to edit audio recordings and use music to create an engaging podcast. I used the musical clips provided by Anchor to avoid licensing issues. I look forward to recording more podcasts in the future and continuing to explore this popular medium.
Since this was a very impactful change for students, the podcast format was better than a traditional written story because listeners could hear students' direct reactions. For Southerner coverage, podcasts work best for many student life stories, where the audio of sources' voices can really strengthen the message.