Experiences of a Summer Intern

So, the summer has gotten off to a great start. I am now the official intern of the online department at the Knoxville News Sentinel. When starting my second day at knoxnews, I was asked to tag along on an assignment by Lauren Spuhler and Morgan Simmons, an online producer and outdoors reporter, respectively. I had no idea what I was getting into or what to expect. Exciting.

The three of us piled into Morgan's extended cab Toyota Tacoma and headed for a small town called Coker Creek. This little outpost in southeastern Tennessee, about half way between Knoxville and Georgia, was an interesting place. Our mission: to capture still shots and video of an artist named Bob Hardin who makes all sorts of knives, carvings, paintings, and wood burnings.

We showed up at this guy's house and found a myriad of objects covering the walls and table tops - each one hand-made with the greatest of care. His friend Cathrine(?), who was Morgan's contact for the story, was also there to document us for her local newsletter that she produces.

As Lauren shot video and took stills, Morgan asked the questions. He had interviewed Bob before and knew what kind of questions to ask. Apparently, in their last interview, Morgan uncovered that Bob had once worked as a hit man in Montana. uhmm. This now grey-haired, frail-looking man standing in front of me now enjoys a life of art. Carving, burning, painting, and forging metal.

After getting all the stills and video we needed, we stopped by the Coker Creek gift shop and post office. There we found nick-nacks, canned jams, books, maps, and keep-sakes. It was a quaint place that looked like it belonged in a movie. Cathrine(?), Bob's friend runs the place and gave us the grand tour of the one-room show.

We made it back to the News Sentinel at around 3:30. What could I possible do that would top a 6 hour road trip with the cool folks from KNS? - Input restaurant data onto the server. ha! At this moment, Jigsha, my boss, has me transferring the information about local eateries from Knoxville magazine onto Knoxnews.com. It's not a horrible task but does get old after 20 entries or so. A quick stop by one of the many break rooms for a drink, and it's back to work.

I think this summer should prove to be a fun and exiting time where I'll learn some pretty valuable things about journalism and working in the "real world."

I'm planning on updating about my adventures fairly often. That way, when it's time to write that paper summarizing my time with KNS for JEM credit, I'll be able to. Having a bad memory sucks.