by Alli Inglebright
Aaron Hegarty was selected to participate in the Dow Jones News Fund internship program. The program matches over 80 undergraduate and graduate students with paid internships in leading news organizations.
Hegarty, a senior journalism student, will intern at USA Today in McLean, Virginia. He is excited to combine his computer science and reporting skills.
“It is a data journalism internship, so the coding skills I picked up before I switched majors from computer science, the reporting skills I picked up as a journalism major and, of course, many things I’ve learned in data journalism classes taught by Matt Waite, will all come in handy,” Hegarty. “Just like writing and communication, coding is a skill that can be used in many fields, especially journalism.”
As part of the program, Hegarty will join 12 students at the University of Missouri for a week of training before heading to his internship. The students will learn how to obtain and analyze data, visualize information and employ computer-assisted reporting methods used by investigative reporters and editors. Hegarty’s training will begin May 29, and his internship will start the following week.
Hegarty is hoping the experience he gains from his internship with USA Today will prepare him to work in a similar position after graduation.
During the 2017-2018 school year, Hegarty was a reporting and data fellow at the Omaha World-Herald. He was also an intern at his hometown paper, the Fremont Tribune, last summer.
