Rookie Mistakes

Internship. In North America, an intern is one who works in a temporary position with an emphasis on education rather than merely employment, making it similar in some respects to an apprenticeship. Interns are usually college or university students or other young adults. But they can also be later in life, playing an important role in continuing education and career change.

Intern. It is a title that relegates many people to perform menial tasks, such as get coffee for the higher-ups, make copies of TPS reports, and dump wastebaskets from every cubicle.
Sometimes, the title might be more aptly described as "servant".
Interns are viewed as being of a lower mental capacity by default. Mistakes are to be expected. After all, you’re an intern. You’re learning about what your potentially future job is like by hanging around people that do it. Most of the time, you don’t do anything remotely close to it.
The thing I was most thankful for about my internship at the newspaper was that I was not treated as "the intern". (Insert groans and eye rolling by executives) I was treated with respect, and for the most part I never had to do "intern jobs".
I got my biggest compliment last week when another reporter told me that she doesn’t view me as an intern, but as another reporter.
Up until this week, I hadn’t made any of the intern blunders that are best shared between the editors over a few drinks. How things can change in an instant.
On Monday night, I worked 3-midnight. This meant I worked the cops shift, which I describe in a previous entry. As soon as I got into the newsroom, I was approached with another task. Cover a portion of the city council meeting for an info box that will run along with an article by another reporter on a different portion of the same meeting.
I was a little frightened going in. If I had to rank my reporting skills, reporting on city government has to be dead last. However, to get better…I have to do it more. Step outside of my comfort zone.
It was the biggest meeting of the year. The room to hold overflow from the main meeting room had overflowed. A large crowd watched the proceedings on closed circuit television in the lobby of city hall. I was supposed to report by watching a TV. Great.
I had several other tasks to tend to before I got back to the newsroom and filed my info box. However, the first portion of the meeting ran long, so I did not leave city hall until after 11:30. Deadline is at midnight. I rushed into the newsroom and quickly filled out an info box on the results of a vote, and other business.
Whew. Done. I went home a little before 1 AM. Just one reason I hate working nights.
I did not know anything was wrong until another reporter approached me the next afternoon. I had gotten the results of the vote wrong, and the incorrect account ran in that day’s paper.
Pause. This is where many other journalists would freak out. I did not. Yes, I care as much about accuracy as any other reporter. However, I look at the big picture.
Did someone die as a result of my mistake? No.
Was someone seriously injured as a result of my mistake? No.
Is my mistake permanent? No.
Did my mistake cost anyone their job? No.
See what I’m saying? I made a mistake, but my life was not over because of it. Looking at the big picture really has pulled me out of some rough situations.
We corrected the mistake in Wednesday’s paper. Problem solved. While some council members are unhappy with the inaccuracy, they will forget about it shortly.
I cannot imagine the pressure that a doctor feels, knowing that their patient’s life is in their hands. If THEY mess up, the ramifications are huge.
Life goes on after my mistake. My editors discussed it with me, and we put it in the past. No need to dwell on it. I approached my story today almost feeling a bit of anger. I felt like I had to prove to them that I am a competent reporter.
"Nice job."
Those two words spoken by my editor let me know that the mistake had been put in the past, and I resumed my work in a strong way.
To sum it up, nobody is perfect. I believe that mistakes in life are inevitable. A large portion of your life is how you deal with them.
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My other "rookie mistake" came at the beginning of the month.
I had just left a local government agency, furious at the lack of progress I had made in a meeting with them. I was trying to simply talk to someone to get a comment, and I was basically escorted off of the premises.
Before I went back into the newsroom with no story, I drove around downtown Fayetteville to cool off. Out of nowhere, I saw three TV trucks outside of a large office building. They were trucks that enabled a live feed, as they had satellite connections.
What was going on? Did we miss something at the paper? Maybe I will go back to the newsroom with a story!
I pulled over, and jumped out of my car with my notepad…ready to find out what was going on.
I walked in the building, and it was a corporate building that held the offices of several organizations. There was no lobby. Just three sets of elevators staring at you as soon as you opened the front door.
I jumped onto the elevator, and started riding it to different floors. I was expected to see a standoff with a gunman or something of that nature every time the doors opened.
(As an aside, the newsroom I work in was held hostage by a gunman a few years back. Nobody was injured.)
I rode the elevator for a half hour. Nothing.
Disappointed, I got into my car and headed back to the newsroom. When I got back, I talked to my editor and explained what I saw.
She started laughing uncontrollably.
"What?" I asked.
"Jarel, the building you went in…it’s the local bureaus for the TV stations that you saw. The parking lot where you saw the trucks parked, that’s just where they park their vehicles."
Oh, to be an intern…