Letter to the Editor:
MUTV, KCOU offer real-world experience
Published Nov. 10, 2009
The Maneater undercut its own position in the opening paragraph of its editorial in reference to the KCOU and MUTV internships when it wrote, "... but not all internships are created equally. For instance, having an internship with CNN would be considered a bigger deal than working for the public access station in one's hometown." The Missouri Students Association would never argue that an internship with KCOU or MUTV would be equivalent to an experience at NPR or CNN.
What is the point of an internship? At the most basic level, an internship is designed to provide the student with a practical out-of-classroom experience. Regardless of the prestige of KCOU or MUTV, the interns who work at these outlets receive real experience via work in an actual radio or television station, which is the entire point of an internship.
In fact, if these students go on to apply to an internship with NPR or CNN, they have an advantage over other applicants as they have actual work experience in a studio. In fact, it is asinine for the Maneater to claim that these internships are not real world experience. Students have the opportunity to work in a fully functional radio or television station, which inevitably involves working with equipment, meeting deadlines, and ultimately delivering a product. Regardless of the management or audience of these outlets, students receive an out-of-classroom experience that helps them apply skills they have learned in the classroom to the real world.
Especially at Mizzou, where the market for these mediums is frequently dominated by journalism students, providing communications students (and hopefully students of other disciplines down the road) with an additional avenue of learning is an important service that MSA can provide at no additional cost to students. Especially in light of the fact that KCOU and MUTV are sometimes charged with not being relevant to the student body, it seems odd that The Maneater is critical of this initiative.
Moreover, apparently The Maneater has not had a great number of job interviews. The resume is merely a document that facilitates conversation about one's experiences. An internship is valuable to the intern only insofar as they are able to discuss their experience. If the intern has taken advantage of the internship and acquired a level of comprehension, which is the design of the program, they will have ample opportunity to "validate" their internship through conversation.
Lastly, I find it amusing that The Maneater closes with "At the end of the day, a student news organization is just not real-world experience." First, what does this say about the Missourian, which is an important aspect of student learning for a significant number of journalism students? Second, what does that say about The Maneater?
