kuar: : Interns at KUAR and KLRE get hands-on experience (2009-10-06)

INSIDE KUAR

Interns at KUAR and KLRE get hands-on experience

KUAR reporter Kelly MacNeil (right) talks to intern Jaclyn Abramovitz about news stories being covered that day.

We seek talented people to work in internship positions throughout our organization. KUAR FM 89.1 and KLRE Classical 90.5 offer a wide variety of internships in hopes of introducing new and diverse voices to public radio. Interns learn about the world of broadcasting and about working for a non-profit that relies on the public for funding. There are three types of internships offered: community, college, and high school. These are unpaid positions that generally last a few months to a year.

Our latest group of interns include Jaclyn Abramovitz, a Senior at Parkview High School, and Kristin Knox, a 28-year-old student at UALR.

"An internship coordinator came to my English class and told me about the opportunity. I'd heard of public radio, but I had never listened to it. I thought it would be a good chance for me to see how things at a radio station operate since I've never even been inside one," says Abramovitz.

The 17-year-old says she is particularly interested in learning more about digital audio editing, studio operation, and writing for newscasts. "I'd like to work behind-the-scenes and not necessarily on the air. I'm considering majoring in broadcasting in college, so this internship will allow me to see if that's something I'd like to do."

UALR student Kristin Knox is majoring in Mass Communications. She is already familiar with the day-to-day operations of a radio station. She currently works full-time for Citadel Broadcasting in Little Rock as a sales assistant. She has also done some on-air announcing on Praise FM 102.5.

"I'd like to be a program director for a radio station one day. I'm familiar with music programming, but I've never been exposed to news programming. I listen to the news, but I've never been on the other side of things helping to produce the news. When you're listening, you really don't think about all the work that went into getting the stories on the air," says Knox.

To learn more about internships at KUAR and KLRE, visit www.kuar.org/internships.