I’m Carter Schaffer, a senior at Kansas State University. I’m pursuing a bachelor’s degree in mass communication with a journalism concentration alongside minors in economics and political science. Hailing from Wichita, Kansas, I’ve grown up a Wildcat my whole life. I enjoy video games and editing videos in my spare time, and I bowl on the school’s club varsity team.

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Internship

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My internship took me to Washington, D.C., this summer with The Fund for American Studies. The program’s journalism track provides work site visits, guest lectures and conversations with accomplished journalists in the area, exploration opportunities in the city and more. The program promised a guaranteed internship, and I took one with The Well News, an online publication priding itself on neutral news coverage and cross-country coverage.

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The internship is structured to treat me like an employed reporter: gather facts, research, find sources and conduct interviews and, of course, write. We are trying to get a beat figured out with the professional sports teams in town, the Washington Commanders and Washington Nationals, but in the meantime, I’ve covered health and sports.

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Projects & People

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Since we started just three weeks ago, I’ve only held a handful of projects. So far, I’ve written a preview for the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition meeting on June 27, the FDA adding new draft guidance for tattoo ink manufacturers and distributors, a recap of the Congressional Baseball Game and Ohio’s ban on transgender women in female sports.

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Sports have quickly become my favorite stories to write since I always grew up competing and I have a lot of knowledge and passion around them. Sources in D.C. seem to always be busy, which has been the most frustrating part of the job and the biggest difference from the Collegian. Sources in Manhattan usually get back to me within a couple days max whereas I don’t even get a response from a lot of people in Washington.

The co-interns have been fun to converse with, but we don’t see each other a whole lot. The Well News doesn’t have a physical office, so we work out of the National Press Club when we do go into work.

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My bosses have been great to work with and welcoming with my work. They give me opportunities to pitch stories and have their own to assign me if I struggle finding them.

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Learning

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Perhaps it’s dangerous to admit this, but the stress of picking up stories the last year has matched no other. I get cold feet — intimidated — so worried I’m going to screw it up I wait until the last minute to complete it or never touch it again. Which, I suppose it’s a little ironic I wanted this internship in the first place.

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However, I’ve at least learned the reason: I’m scared I’ll look like a fool if I’m not 110% mentally prepared and knowledgeable for the interview, and after that, I’m scared I’ll write like a fool if I’m not 110% getting everything right. Pressure is good in quantities, but it’s been crushing me too tightly. I think I need to loosen up if I want to be in this field and be OK with not knowing everything all the time.

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In fact gathering, I’ve learned a lot on how to write with just a press release. And no, I don’t mean write with only the info from a press release, but how to use it as a launch pad to research the topic and find sources. I’ve also learned how to push myself in making stories full with background information and context.

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I also found how hard it is to get quotes even when you have emails and phone numbers. “Important” people in big cities with big jobs seem largely unavailable to a lowly reporter such as myself. I believe there are two solutions: finding a notable company in whatever area I’m reporting in or finding a way to market myself so sources find value in receiving questions and will call me back.

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I believe the writing techniques and research tactics I’m learning now will serve me well in the future, and I will adamantly bring all my knowledge back to the Collegian this year.