WISN Fall Intern

Do you want to join a premier multimedia company? When you start a career with Hearst Television, not only will you work amongst passionate professionals who take pride in what they do, but you will be a part of a progressive culture where your talents will be valued. 

WISN-TV offers paid internships for 10-12 weeks in the departments below. In order to apply for an internship at WISN-TV, please provide a cover letter with your application. The cover letter should include:

• Semester i.e. Spring, Summer, or Fall
• Department preference
• Available start and end dates
• Days and hours available to intern

Application Deadlines

• Fall: August 15

WISN-TV Internship Criteria

Candidate must be a Junior or Senior with a declared major in a related field (for example):

• Broadcast 
• Communications
• Journalism
• Digital
• Marketing
• Public Relations
• Meteorology
• Sports
• Technical
• Creative Services 
• Production

 

Available Internships

Newsroom:

Newsroom interns will spend time rotating through each of the following areas:

• Assignment desk, where they will assist in gathering news and information. This includes taking and placing telephone calls from reporters, sources and the general public. It may also include research, scheduling and organizational tasks.
• TV News production, where they will practice writing and formatting scripts for broadcast as well as spending time in a news satellite or microwave van on the scene at a live news report.
• Digital news production, where they will research and write content for WISN digital platforms including the WISN app, WISN.com and various social media platforms.

Creative Services:

• Attend news meetings and department meetings to go over daily news topics and performance goals
• Write copy for voice-overs and promotional identifications.
• Perform production assistant duties such as locating props and photographs, researching music and video copies for the Creative Services Department.
• Shadow promotion producers to gain a strong overview of editing and shooting responsibilities of the Creative Services/producer function.
• Maintain anchors/reporters bios, photos and files
• Write press releases, advisories, articles, etc.
• Assist in promoting WISN programming by drafting Tweets and Facebook posts
• Observe unlimited newscasts and editing sessions
• Participate in promo shoots in the station and on location

Sports:

• Checks sports and news wires for any breaking sports news.
• Compiles and submits complete list of chyron material to be used in the show.
• Gathers all professional and collegiate scores.
• Logs all sports events recorded by the Sports staff.
• Answering phone calls, taking messages and making calls for the producers and talent.
• May accompany reporters on location shoots.

Technical:

• News Edit
• ENG Receive
• Microwave News Gathering
• Satellite News Gathering
• News Photography
• Studio Operations (Floor Direct)
• Control Room Operations (Robos/Audio/TD)
• Air Operations (Master Control/Air Assist)
• Maintenance
• IT

Shifts are normally in the daytime, evenings and on weekends.

After completing a week in each of the above areas, the final two weeks of the program will be designated for students to return to their areas of choice in order to gain additional training.

*Set days may be set for an intern's semester, but shifts will constantly change based on the department in which they work.

Weather:
***Please note: All candidates for weather internships with WISN must be enrolled in a meteorology curriculum or closely related program of study.

• Analyze weather charts and models
• Contribute to daily forecast preparation
• Assist with weather graphics production
• Assist meteorologists in gathering critical & breaking weather information and data
• Relay important information to/from News, Assignment Desk, and Web staff
• Attend editorial and news meetings
• Research statistical data
• Practice forecast delivery in-studio
• Assist with social media efforts and email communication

Hours are flexible and may require early mornings (4 a.m. - noon, later evenings 2:30 p.m. - 11 p.m.), and weekends (morning and evening shifts).