Lessons I learned while interning at a top 3 broadcast news market
After interning at two investigative news units in Los Angeles, California this year, I have realized how important investigative journalism is to the news industry and the public. As I continue to think about what kind of journalist I want to be, I find myself realizing that there's an investigative news angle to almost every story. While I may be an up and coming journalist who is still building her network, I have found tricks to help me find stories, people, and information that have formed story ideas.
One of the biggest lessons I learned this summer is that there's always a story, you just have to find it! One of the ways I do this is by taking national stories and localizing it. Whether that’s a story about an epidemic, trend, or politics, you can always relate it back to your community. I did exactly this while working with reporter Lolita Lopez at NBC4 Los Angeles. We looked into tariffs and exports within the United States. We then connected how this has impacted the California wine industry. This story was relevant to the community because we found that tariffs could cause job losses and higher prices for locals in the future.
Another big tip I learned this summer is to try and find stories based on laws and policies that are put into action within your state and community. The NBC4 I-Team aired a story about the dangers of Hollywood Tour buses in 2016. These buses take tourists on rides around the area that show LA’s hot spots and celebrity homes. This summer, a new law was passed that requires tour bus drivers to tell passengers to wear their seat belts and have headphones for them instead of loud speaker systems. The investigative unit was curious about whether these tour bus companies were compliant with the law. I had the opportunity as an intern to go undercover and witness these laws being broken, which ended up turning into a follow up story for the station.
Whether you’re a student journalist or a news reporter working at a station, you can find a story just about anywhere. You just have to be creative about where you search! Be persistent and think about how stories can affect the community you live in.