Desiree Holz (Journalism, ’23) is the current marketing and public relations intern at the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, New York. Desiree’s main responsibility this summer has been to create and manage the museum’s TikTok. She has been helping to write press releases and work on research and other administrative tasks for the museum.
“I make around one-to-two TikToks each day and I work to keep our online presence up. I’m finding my time here very valuable as I’m working directly with the head of communications.”
Desiree, who interned for The Ithaca Voice last summer, has found working at a nonprofit museum to be a completely different but equally fulfilling learning experience.
“Overall, I’m really enjoying my time and like the environment of working inside a museum. I get to combine my passion of art with my passion for video and writing, which is an extremely unique experience.”
George Christopher (Journalism, ’23) has been spending the summer interning at the New Jersey Globe. During this time, he has had the opportunity to travel to and cover the New Jersey legislature. He has also covered events with prominent New Jersey political figures including Governor Phil Murphy and Senator Bob Menendez.
“As the legislative season ends, I’ve moved into the field reporting on occasional events and bill signings. On July 5th I covered a bill signing with New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy. I covered a report from the state Comptroller stating that 95% of state municipalities were violating state law regarding sick leave payments.”
George has also spent time conglomerating elections set for the coming general in November. “I’ve been going through every county and municipality in the state of New Jersey and placing their respective elections into a spread sheet. This is meticulous, but important work as it can provide an important reference for my colleagues.”
Evan Miller (Journalism ’24) has been interning with Juno Films. So far, he has written several press releases for the film distributor and worked on a social media campaign for one of their upcoming films.
One of the most important things Evan has done is watch screeners for films that the company may be pursuing for distribution rights. “When I watch these films, I give them my detailed thoughts on their quality and where I can see them being most successful, whether that be in theaters or on a digital/streaming service. I can tell that they really value my thoughts and opinions about every film that I have watched so far. I truly feel as though I am a part of their team.”
Evan said, “I already feel as though I have learned so much about the business elements of the film industry and the internship has practically only just begun.”
Devon Jezek (Documentary Studies & Journalism, ’25) has been interning at WRFI Community Radio, where she has been interviewing radio hosts for an upcoming radio and social media project. Each week, she posts multiple newscasts on the WRFI website and Spotify regarding local and state news. Her other tasks include writing and recording PSAs, interviewing radio hosts and local Ithacans, filming, editing, working on social media projects, and much more.
“I have had a blast this summer and have learned so much! I can’t wait for the rest of the summer to continue my passion for broadcast journalism, volunteering, and kayaking!”
Himadri Seth (Journalism ’23) is interning at FAIR, where she is currently working on collecting articles related to Critical Race Theory (CRT) in the New York Times between 1994 and 2022. She is also helping with a study about the New York Times’ crime coverage, noting down all the sources quoted in New York Times articles relating to police reform in June 2020 and June 2022.
Griffin Frechette’s (Journalism, ’23) work at WRFI has involved streamlining WRFIs social media. He has also been working on a long-term project interviewing the DJs to make profiles of them.
“WRFI is a really great place to work! Between doing the daily newscasts and doing interviews with DJs and other locals, I am spending most of this summer recording really great conversations.”
Eva Salzman (Journalism, ’23) has been working at The Ithaca Voice for her summer internship. She has written several stories for TIV, covering a variety of topics ranging from a climate justice rally to a profile on a local artist who has gone viral, to report on a new exhibit at Ithaca’s History Center.
“These were all really exciting to work on as they are all topics I am passionate about!”
Eva also reported on the new bill that made Ithaca a sanctuary city for abortions and reproductive health care.
“I talked to representatives from Planned Parenthood as well as Common Council members and sat in on the meeting in which the bill was passed. This was really exciting as I am extremely passionate about reproductive rights and getting to report on Ithaca taking steps to protect them was a really meaningful experience. This was also an educating experience as it was my first time reporting on legal proceedings and reporting on the events of a Common Council meeting.”
Farid Ahmad (Politics ’24) has been interning at the Institute For Public Accuracy, where he has been publishing press releases for the nonprofit. The releases cover a range of topics, including the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the sentencing of Ghislaine Maxwell, the failure to indict officials responsible for the Flint Water Crisis, and the failure of the U.S. State Department to adequately investigate the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh at the hands of the Israeli military.
“I’ve really enjoyed my internship so far. The bulk of it includes sending out press releases and doing research on the news so it’s helped me keep track of current affairs both domestically and internationally. It’s made me want to develop my knowledge on politics even further.”
Caitlin Holtzman (Journalism, ’23) has been spending her summer writing stories for The Ithaca Voice. She has reported on many local issues surrounding the Ithaca area such as voter turnout, and string of burglaries that occurred in Ithaca in July.
“While also working on a slightly longer story, sometimes I’ll work to write up a press release or a smaller story about some sort of breaking event. I think that over the past few weeks the internship has been going very well and I’m learning a lot about local journalism and reporting.”