By By: Kate Luce
Co-Editor-in-Chief
The Preface is offering IU South Bend students opportunities for internships in the spring 2021 semester and fall 2021 semester. This internship will fulfill course number J-290, which is an essential credit for Journalism majors, but any student in any major can apply to be a part of the internship.
This course is worth three credits. Ken Klimek, the staff advisor, has to get a student’s name cleared in order to be a part of the class, but the process only takes a couple of days.
“No one can register until I get their name cleared. J-290 is closed until permission is granted. Once I have a name, I can get it cleared for the student to register within days,” Klimek said.
The Preface’s internship is looking for students who want to build their resumes and grow their portfolio through print, video production, layout design, marketing, advertisement sales, social media or web content.
“The experience gives them a taste of what it would be like to work – in journalism or related fields – marketing or PR,” Klimek said.
The duties of interns can vary on the interests of what a student would like to do. Writing stories, taking photos, shooting videos for the website and working on social media are all options for interns.
Former Preface staffers have been able to find work among their fields because of their experience working in journalism in the Michiana area.
“There are many former interns working in journalism. As you know I do some work for ABC 57, and currently, there are five present or former Preface staffers working at that station. We have had interns work for The South Bend Tribune, The Truth in Elkhart, WSBT-TV and even a number who went on to work in marketing or web positions with all kinds of businesses. The assistant news director at ABC57 is a former Preface staffer,” Klimek said.
Christina Clark is currently working as a Reporter for the Niles Daily Star. Before this job, Clark worked for The Preface as a Staff-Writer and an Editor.
“The Preface gave me real-world experience finding and pitching stories, interviewing subjects, taking photos, writing and rewriting stories. Serving as Editor educated me that even the best writers and reporters can benefit from a good edit. I never lived on campus, but being a part of the newspaper forced me to pay attention to everything going on. It helped reinforce the importance of making connections and asking questions. It also helped give me the tools to build my confidence as I reached out to potential interview sources, which always felt awkward when I started. The experience helped prepare me for my summer internship with The Goshen News, where I was given reporting assignments on my first day,” Clark said.
Interested students should email Klimek at kenkl12@gmail.com. He will be able to explain the number of hours and expectations for the course. This internship is very flexible, as there are no textbooks or classroom meetings required. If a student commits, Klimek can get them registered for J-290.
According to Klimek, being put on the payroll for The Preface is a possibility for good candidates for interns. This is dependent on talent. Currently, The Preface is looking for general writers, ad sales associates and sportswriters.
“I would recommend anyone who is considering going into newspaper, web article or magazine work to connect with The Preface staff. Some weeks, fitting a story in on top of other work seems monumental, but it is also a realistic expectation as a reporter. I made friends I still speak to on a regular basis at The Preface, and see other staffers at other publications and news outlets in the area doing wonderful work, and I’m proud that I got to start building my skills in the same training ground that they did,” Clark said.
