Tommy Pittenger, ’14, a multimedia intern working for The Eugene Register-Guard, spent his first day on the job at Winco foods.  

“I got sent out to Winco because Peter DeFazio was there, showing how much food you can really buy with a week’s worth of welfare money,” Pittenger said. “There were all these other news stations there. I interviewed DeFazio, filmed, and headed back and wrote the story.”

Pittenger is one of 16 Snowden interns in the UO School of Journalism and Communication who were chosen to work side-by-side with professionals at media outlets throughout Oregon.

The program, which honors the life and career of Charles Snowden, a longtime editor at the Oregon Journal and The Oregonian, provides paid, ten-week placements where students get real-world training in providing news and information to communities.

Snowden interns take part in a preparatory journalism ethics-training program. Once this year’s interns completed the program, the students followed in the footsteps of the more than 130 students who have taken part in the program statewide since 1998.

Along with fellow Snowden interns at the Guard, Sam Stites and Tess Freeman, Pittenger was quickly incorporated into the newsroom.

“I was expecting to only do videos, so to have to write stories was actually pretty challenging,” Pittenger said. “I thought I would be going out and filming with a reporter, but it’s kind of a one-stop shop.” 

Stites’ immersion in the newsroom was just as complete, with an expectation that he would meet the standards of any other reporter at the paper.

“No one is trying to hold my hand,” Stites said. “I enjoy independence in my reporting, but I also like being able to ask for help when I need it.”

Freeman’s experience at that the photo desk was no different.

“I was definitely nervous because I was among people who know exactly what to do. But the great thing about internships is that people know you’re there to learn,” Freeman said.

- from a story by the UO School of Journalism and Communication