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This summer, Brian Mason ’08 (Manchester, Conn.) is writing all the news that’s fit to post. Mason—incoming editor of The Lafayette—is working at The Online NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, the website of the nightly news program that airs on PBS.
Mason says he’s “been doing a little of everything” during his nine-week internship, which is located in Shirlington, Va., and ends August 10. His internship experience is being supported by the Class of 1974 internship endowment fund.
“I’ve written ‘updates’ for the site, where a story will break across the wire and I’ll rewrite the information into the NewsHour’s own words,” explains Mason, an international affairs major. “I’ve written stories for their high school site, Extra, where I took a current news story, report on the news like an update, but dive in further, giving background information that high schoolers are not assumed to know. I’ve also written questions for students and teachers to use with those articles.”
For the Extra site, Mason also writes briefs that summarize interesting news events of the day and has become what he calls “a blogger of sorts.”
“The NewsHour’s blog isn’t your typical online fare,” he explains. “Instead of promoting personal opinions, it uses the instantaneous blogging platform to post unbiased updates on the presidential candidates. I’ve written several posts, mostly following Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd, and I’ve learned how to produce entries, learning the technology.”
In addition, Mason has done research for reporter’s stories, and has spent some time working to categorize their photo database. He’s working on larger projects, as well. Recently, Mason completed work on an original story on presidential candidates’ use of Facebook and MySpace, and he is currently compiling information for an interactive timeline focused on India’s independence from Great Britain.
“The fact that I’m learning how to do journalism on the web—reporting and writing quickly and using the technology—will be invaluable in the future,” he says. “But my writing’s improving the most. By writing these ‘updates,’ I’m forced to look at three or four examples of professional—and usually very good—writing, then take those pieces and write it into a slightly briefer report, but one that still sounds just as good. It’s an excellent exercise in learning the nuts and bolts of journalism, how stories fit together, and why each piece goes where.”
Mason feels that this experience will be a tremendous benefit to him during his senior year at Lafayette. The writing he’s done will help him with any writing that’s assigned, he notes, and he will be up to date on the news that occurred this summer.
“However, this will help most as I assume the position of editor-in-chief of The Lafayette newspaper,” Mason adds. “I would like to take what I’ve learned about the Internet and try and build up the newspaper’s own website. This internship has also given me an excellent editing and reporting foundation as I’ve gotten to watch professional editors at work.”
Mason indicates that he wants to become a journalist following his days at Lafayette, although he admits he’s not 100 percent certain of that profession as a career path.
“I enjoy how it always changes, how it’s always fresh, and how I continually learn about the world,” Mason says. “If I do pursue a career in journalism, it will absolutely be on the web.”
He points out that the industry is currently at a crossroads and is still unsure of how to fully use the Internet.
“While the tangible newspaper you get delivered to your door every morning probably won’t disappear completely, the Internet will continue to gain an ever-greater presence,” Mason explains. “As my generation comes of age and because we’ve been raised on an instantaneous flow of information, the web is going to become increasingly valuable. So, if I do pursue a career in journalism, this web-based experience, along with the NewsHour’s name, will hopefully help get my foot in the door of a shrinking industry.”
Among his extracurricular activities, Mason served as The Lafayette‘s news editor for the past three semesters and was a reporter during his freshman year. He spent the first semester of his sophomore year studying in Dijon, France. Mason also ran cross country and track during his freshman year. In addition to his work at The Lafayette, Mason is a writing associate for the college’s peer writing program.