From steam engines to search engines

June 14, 2007
Katie Nieland, Grand Island Independent, Grand Island, Nebraska.

I think if there were enough internships to go around, they should be required. The J-School can only prepare you so much, the Daily Nebraskan can only prepare you so much. Only by actually going out and doing your intended job will you know how it's going to be.

And it feels really weird because through each part of college, there is a clear distinction between different sections of life. You're a freshman until you're a sophomore, things like that. But after graduation, is there anything that divides your life into chunks anymore?

OK, that was way too introspective for me. There are eight weeks left on the job at the Independent. I've finally found my misplaced style guide (in a box in the closet) and I've managed to rack up a good amount of stories (38ish, not counting obits). But being an intern is weird because you're in such a limbo. I'm going back to school in eight weeks so I didn't fully unpack some things.

Today I experienced my first Internet black out. No Internet at all. It made me realize just how vital it is to our job and it made me wonder what it was like to do this job without it. It makes it a lot easier, but is that a good thing? Do we take too little time talking to sources and too much time delving for information online? It's evident to me how much we use it when the thought of looking something up in an actual, printed phonebook was completely foreign to me. I'm going to have to wait to post this, as there is no Internet now.

Goal: Try to ask people more questions. Try to ask less questions to search engines.

I also got to do a drop in this week for today's (Thursday) webcast. It was weird trying to transfer something I had written for print into something for broadcast. But it was fun. I did it on the first take too. That one little podcast session in News Net actually helped a lot. And they use the same editing software here (Avid). Just because I'm in print doesn't mean I can ignore the other facets of journalism! Check out the webcast on www.theindependent.com

My name is Katie Nieland and I'm a senior news-ed major at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. I'm interning at the Grand Island Independent this summer as a general assignment reporter. I've been at the Daily Nebraskan since fall 2004 and will return this fall as managing editor. Email Me, View All Katie's Entries