Meet our summer interns, learning journalism while delivering Sacramento news
If you visited our newsroom now, and had not seen this story, you would probably wonder: Just how young are these Sacramento Bee reporters? You would see them, sitting in pockets together, these kids with ear pods, intensely buried in laptops, working on stories and wonder if they were old enough to drink.
Some are.
So, they’re not kids — but that really depends on your definition and where you are in life. They are, of course, our summer interns, devoting 10 or 12 weeks in a crash course in Sacramento journalism. Every summer, a group of aspiring journalists step into our newsroom and immediately contribute news and visuals while they learn.
The Sacramento Bee and McClatchy Media are committed to opening the doors to the next generation of journalists, not only to give them opportunities to learn but to help prepare them in shaping a career in providing news and information. I’m The Bee’s managing editor and have coordinated our internship program for decades. I tell candidates during the interviews, they can learn, we can assess new talent and they can weigh whether this is a profession they wish to pursue.
Many have. Our interns have made their marks at a variety of journalism outlets, and I always point out their bylines and say, “that’s a former Bee intern.” I find joy in it.
With the help of Nathaniel Levine, Assistant Managing Editor for Local News and Visuals, and the programs that help fund their time here, I begin to connect with candidates in November. In our newsroom this summer, 14 are engaged in a professional educational Sacbee course in journalism, working alongside our staff covering local news politics and sports; capturing visuals; and learning the ropes of audience engagement.
They are a splendid cast of young talent. I sent them a bunch of questions and they emailed responses. I thought you would like to read some excerpts. (This is an expanded version of a “From the Newsroom” newsletter we sent to subscribers.)
First, some acknowledgements
We are very fortunate at The Bee to work with Rhema Bland, McClatchy Media’s Deputy Director of News Talent, Culture & Training. She gets us started in the fall of each year and works in a variety of ways to help us recruit and engage with students. We also rely on external funding to build our intern team. Sandy Louey, with the local chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association, reaches out every year to see if we would like to partner again with AAJA funding to support an intern, as we have for almost two decades. Derek Webster with Yale’s Office of Career Strategy coordinates the Paul Block Journalism Funded Internships with us. Sarah Wert with Stanford’s Communication Department keeps us on track with the Rowland and Pat Rebele Journalism Internship Program and the Harry Press Stanford Daily Award Internship. And I always appreciate hearing from Stanford’s Janine Zacharia, who lets me know about promising journalism candidates. These are invaluable members of our internship network who are instrumental in opening doors for new journalists.
Who they are
Alula Alderson, Stanford University, Harry Press
Tania Azhang, Columbia University (starts July 13)
Vince Basada, UC Davis (starts July 13)
HG Biggs, Ohio University
Sean Campbell, USC
Ruyuan Li, Boston University, AAJA
Reeti Malhotra, Yale University, Paul Block
Haley Parsley, University of Maryland
Evelyn Ronan, Yale University, Paul Block
Libby Simpson, Western Kentucky University
Naomi Taxay, Northwestern University
Sofia Williams, Stanford University, Rebele
Velvet Wu, Yale University, Paul Block
Ziyu Julian Zhu, Stanford University, Rebele
Some observations about journalism and stories
I asked them some questions about their aspirations, observations and stories. I can’t include the full responses, so I have selected some excerpts. I think you will find them illuminating and uplifting. I do.
I randomly picked four here to highlight some of their experiences:
Alula: “Journalism has taught me two major lessons. First, it never ceases to amaze me how willing people are to open up to a complete stranger and express vulnerability. Over the past two weeks, a woman told me about her husband’s death in the Esparto explosion, a man told me about losing everything he owned in a wildfire, and another woman cried while telling me about her son’s death in the Russian-Ukrainian war. Second, I’m often reminded that although we come from different backgrounds, we share universal human experiences. While interviewing people who have faced immense loss, I hear the same few sentiments again and again: ‘Invest in family,’ ‘Tell your loved ones how much they mean to you,”’and ‘Don’t take life for granted.’”
Alula was thrown into the story about the library shooting in Chico her first week here. She explained what that was like: “On my first real day on the job, I was thrown into the deep end: my editor sent me to Chico to cover the aftermath of the recent library shooting. While capturing photos of the memorial, I spotted a nicely-dressed man across the street. I approached and spotted a badge identifying him as a police detective. I asked if he would be open to an interview — he declined — or if he had suggestions for others I could talk to. He recommended I check out a restaurant called Nobby’s. While I initially doubted the relevance of a local burger spot to the shooting, I soon learned the owners were family members of one of the victims. I had the opportunity to interview them and gather new details about the crime. The very next day, I reported on the killer’s arraignment and a press conference about the shooting. The whole experience felt like a movie. It was tragic, exciting, and a brilliant learning opportunity all at once.”
Sean: “Growing up in Davis, I obviously knew a fair amount about Sacramento but it is a completely different ballgame to walk around, talk to people, attend community events and hear reader feedback. It is an honor to serve the community I was a part of for so many years.”
Sean covers many subjects, including sports. “My recent coverage of the three-game series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Athletics is both top of mind and probably my best work this summer. I got multiple scoops, wrote features, game stories and breaking news all from a converted luxury box turned press seating at Sutter Health Park. ... that series gave me a glimpse of what being a beat writer would look like and it sure seemed fun!”
Reeti: “I have been struck by the interesting intersection where Sacramento exists — it is a state capital, city and county. Our coverage encompasses political news with statewide and national implications, alongside local news of major significance for surrounding communities. It’s a little bit of everything.”
Reeti has been mostly tasked with breaking news, but also has been one of our go-to general assignment reporters. “I’ve been fortunate to do a lot of stories that have stuck with me. I’ve enjoyed covering the primaries, municipal governance, statewide legal battles, and breaking news. I think one story that’ll stay with me, though, is the county budget. As long, dense, and complicated as the county budget hearings were, it was a joy to dive into a complex, nuanced issue and translate it into comprehensible coverage.”
Velvet: “I’ve realized through my time at The Bee that reading stories is very different from telling them — there’s a layer of abstraction between the reader and the writer where the reader receives a very clean, edited and directional story. Journalism is about telling the truth, but it’s also about making the world more interesting. What I’ve come to love most about the job is actually the messier parts where I have more questions than answers.”
Velvet, like Reeti, has been tasked with many general assignment stories. This has been new to her. “Reporting for The Bee is the first real reporting experience I’ve gotten, so covering the news in Sacramento has been foundational in a lot of ways. Mainly, I’m surprised by how contradictory the city is. Everybody seems to agree and disagree on most things.”
More insights
Here are comments from others:
Tania: “I was only 9 years old when my parents and I moved from Iran to the United States. I always had a passion for film and literature, but upon our immigration I felt the itch to write for the first time. Writing became the avenue through which I could preserve my memories of home, and become the tool with which I could articulate how I see the world. The desire to preserve the experiences of everyday people in writing led me to becoming a journalist.”
Vince: “I’m pursuing journalism because I love the process of reporting and writing and because I get more enjoyment than I should from getting the inside scoop on stories that matter. Being trusted enough to tell other people’s stories is a privilege.”
HG (visuals): “The short answer to why I became a journalist is that I love people, and I love being an artist. Photojournalism blends my love for art with the ability to highlight issues important to the community in which I live. I enjoy working in a newsroom because of the variety of assignments. Rather than focusing on just sports photography, for example, we are able to document just about anything and everything. I consider it one of the greatest honors when someone is willing to sit and tell me about their life and trust me to show their life to others through photography.”
Ruyuan: “Thanks to AAJA and The Bee, I get to spend my first summer on the West Coast. Over the past few weeks, I’ve learned so much about California’s cities, politics, and communities while helping connect readers with local journalism.”
Haley: “My mom, who is a disability rights attorney, raised me to have a healthy level of skepticism. I love that in this job skepticism is valued, and that we get to spend time chasing down the truth to prove ourselves right or wrong. There’s always a new thing to learn and a new puzzle to piece together. And, I love explaining things! Doing that through writing, for a diverse audience, is a challenge I enjoy.”
Evelyn: “You rarely have a good excuse to ask weird people weird questions, so I feel very lucky that there is a career in it for me.”
Libby (visuals): “College was not always an option for me because my family was very poor, so I picked the school that gave me the most money and chose journalism because I loved to write. After the first year, I realized the impact journalism has on people and I’ve seen first hand the way it can change people’s lives for the better. Now I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.”
Naomi: “I love that covering Sacramento means covering local, state and national news all at once. I’ve reported at each level before, but never all at once. It’s been fascinating to see how a decision at the Capitol can have an immediate impact on California communities while also becoming part of the national conversation.”
Sofia: “One of the first stories I worked on when I got to The Bee was “Resources for post-RTO workplaces appear inadequate, state employees say.” While writing it, I had the opportunity to speak with a wide array of state workers. Hearing their varied experiences reminded me how much I enjoy interviewing and allowed me to explore the intersection between politics and human interest.”
Julian (visuals): “I’ve always been drawn to visual journalism because I believe photographs and video can help people understand communities, share collective memories, and experience things they might never encounter. As an international journalist, I’m especially interested in documenting stories that connect cultures and show the human side of the news.”
Oh, one more — I saved one of Libby’s observations for last, because it is succinct and dead-on:
Libby: “Sacramento is hot.”
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