This summer is jam-packed for Maeve Byrne ’17, as she attends and writes on everything the Syracuse area has to offer.
Byrne, a communication and film studies major, is interning with Syracuse Media Group, a branch of national media outlet Advance Local, and home to the Post Standard and Syracuse.com. She works in content, creating and managing stories for the Syracuse community. Much of her reporting and writing follows local events. She is responsible for conducting interviews and gathering research, previewing and attending events, and writing articles based on her findings. “There are so many events going on in the Syracuse and surrounding areas,” says Byrne. “I get to talk with so many people who enjoy or are passionate about putting on these events. It’s a great thing to be able to write about.”
As a part of her internship, Byrne works alongside many veteran journalists, including Le Moyne’s own Glenn Coin of the Department of Communication and Film Studies, with whom she took her Reporting and Writing class. While developing her stories, Byrne works under the life and culture content editor. “He assigns me stories and events to cover, and he edits my articles while giving me feedback on what I can improve on,” says Byrne. “I’m also sitting next to other reporters and writers on a daily basis. They’ll answer my questions and give me advice. I soak up the information and experience that they have.”
So far, Byrne has written 14 articles, all of which have been published on Syracuse.com and five in the Post Standard. “It’s one thing to learn about writing in the classroom, but it’s another to have to go out and interview real people, and write stories that are being published,” she says. Luckily for Byrne, a Syracuse native, she knows the right places to look and the right people to ask. “I essentially have the advantage of playing on my home field,” says Byrne. “I know the area, and I also have the support system of my friends and family.”
Through this internship, Byrne is one step closer to achieving her dream of being a writer. So far, as she says, “I have learned how to come up with a good headline and how to write a lead paragraph. I’ve learned how to interview people and what questions to ask. I hope that this internship will open doors for me and allow people to hear my voice.”
You can read some of Maeve’s articles below, or look for her work on
Syracuse.com:
Hot, Sunny Weather in Store for this Year’s Jamesville Balloonfest
Sterling Renaissance Festival
Everson Museum in Syracuse Tries Something New: Plazapalooza
Learn More:
Communications & Film Studies
Career Development