Jessica Prokop ’13 spent the summer getting real-life experience as an intern with the competitive Charles Snowden Program for Excellence in Journalism.
Her internship took her to The News-Review in Roseburg, Ore., where she served as a reporter.
“From day one, they had me covering stories,” Prokop says. Her first story, about a local summer concert series, even made the front page. Prokop covered everything from the local berry harvest to musical performances, veteran tributes, highway crashes and historical landmarks.
Prokop is particularly proud of a feature about a 16-year-old teenager who made his first solo flight in his family’s 1955 Cessna 170. The story was picked up by the AP Wire and ran in The Register-Guard in Eugene, the Statesman Journal in Salem and The Bulletin in Bend.
Her favorite story was about the electro, hip-hop duo LMFAO, which has been No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for more than a month. The story featured performer Sky Blu and his grandmother, “Grandma Goodfoot,” who often tours with the group.
“It was a little nerve-wracking at first, living in a city where I didn’t know anyone,” Prokop says. “But all of my co-workers were welcoming, and we often spent time together outside of work.”
Prokop is majoring in mass communication with a minor in psychology. She serves as editor-in-chief of the award-winning Linfield Review. She’s also a member of the Alpha Lambda Delta honor society and is the campus relations committee chair for the Phi Sigma Sigma fraternity.
“I was ecstatic when I was picked for an internship,” says the sophomore. “I believe I was the youngest out of the group of 16 interns.”
The Charles Snowden Program for Excellence in Journalism is based at the University of Oregon, and was established in 1998 in honor of Charles Snowden, a longtime editor at the Oregon Journal and The Oregonian.
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