WISN Fall Intern

About the Role

WISN-TV offers paid internships for 10–12 weeks in multiple departments. Interns must receive credit from an accredited college, university, or trade school, and written verification from the institution is required.

Internship Criteria

• Candidate must be a Junior or Senior with a declared major in a related field such as Broadcast Communications, Journalism, Digital, Marketing, Public Relations, Meteorology, Sports, Technical, or Creative Services Production.
• Application must include a cover letter specifying: semester (Spring, Summer, or Fall), department preference, available start and end dates, and days/hours available to intern.
• Application deadline for Fall: August 31.

Available Internships

Newsroom

• Rotate through the assignment desk, assisting in gathering news and information, including taking and placing telephone calls from reporters, sources, and the public, as well as research, scheduling, and organizational tasks.
• Practice writing and formatting scripts for TV news broadcast, and spend time in a news satellite or microwave van on location at a live news report.
• Research and write content for WISN digital platforms, including the WISN app, WISN.com, and various social media platforms.

Creative Services

• Attend news meetings and department meetings to review daily news topics and performance goals.
• Write copy for voice-overs and promotional identifications.
• Perform production assistant duties such as locating props and photographs, researching music and video copies for the Creative Services Department.
• Shadow promotion producers to gain an overview of editing and shooting responsibilities.
• Maintain anchors' and reporters' bios, photos, and files.
• Write press releases, advisories, and articles.
• Assist in promoting WISN programming by drafting Tweets and Facebook posts.
• Observe newscasts and editing sessions; participate in promo shoots in-station and on location.

Sports

• Check sports and news wires for breaking sports news.
• Compile and submit complete lists of chyron material for shows.
• Gather all professional and collegiate scores.
• Log all sports events recorded by the Sports staff.
• Answer phone calls, take messages, and make calls for producers and talent.
• May accompany reporters on location shoots.

Technical

• Rotate through: News Edit, ENG, Receive, Microwave News Gathering, Satellite News Gathering, News Photography, Studio Operations (Floor Direct), Control Room Operations (Robos/Audio/TD), Air Operations (Master Control/Air Assist), Maintenance, and IT.

Weather

Note: All candidates for weather internships must be enrolled in a meteorology curriculum or closely related program of study.

• Analyze weather charts and models.
• Contribute to daily forecast preparation.
• Assist with weather graphics production.
• Assist meteorologists in gathering critical and breaking weather information and data.
• Relay important information to/from News, Assignment Desk, and Web staff.
• Attend editorial and news meetings.
• Research statistical data.
• Practice forecast delivery in-studio.
• Assist with social media efforts and email communication.

Schedule

Shifts are normally in the daytime, evenings, and on weekends. After completing a week in each area, the final two weeks of the program allow students to return to their areas of choice for additional training. Set days may be determined for the semester, but shifts will constantly change based on the department. Weather internship hours are flexible and may require early mornings (4 a.m. – noon), later evenings (2:30 p.m. – 11 p.m.), and weekend morning and evening shifts.