The Griffin: Where are you interning?
Clayton B. Allen: I am interning with 6ABC on City Line.
G: What is your role at your internship?
Allen: It’s a paid internship in the newsroom. So they kind of want you to go the route you are most interested in. So if you’re a reporter they let you go out with reporters in the field all day or if you want to be a producer they let you hang around the producers and executive producers. They’ll throw you in wherever you’re internested in the most. So it’s really a self-motivated environment.
I personally am interested in the producing and directing area so I work with all of the producers and write for the show. I’ve had ten stories now go up on air. My first story was about the government running out of funding to combat Zika. I did a few stories on the 15th anniversary of 9/11 and a memorial park that was opening up. I did another story about the massive sinkhole that is in Florida right now, where about 215 million gallons of water is pouring out into this 45 foot hole and contaminating water in local communities. I also did a story about a shooting in Trenton.
G: How did you get your internship?
Allen: This all started four years ago when I was a junior in high school. I had visited ABC and NBC through my high school teacher — he arranged a day visit for us to see what’s going on in the real world. I was smart about networking and I kept in contact with them throughout the last few years. Last year, our station CHC TV created this huge broadcast for a competition that we entered and I said “Well we don’t have a teacher here so how can I get good feedback?” So I sent it to my contacts at ABC. They reviewed the show and they gave me some feedback and they also said, you know, “This is really impressive, we would like you to apply for our internship.” And that was back in April. They called me back a few weeks later and told me that they were interested in an interview. So I went through the interview and waited another week and then they said “Welcome to Action News.”
G: What has been the biggest challenge?
Allen: When you first get in there, the biggest challenge for me was figuring out how to get over the anxiety of realizing that you’re writing a story for this big show. Because I’m writing this story and I’m thinking, “This guy is going to read this and this is going on air.” You have to get over that and actually write the story. And that was probably the hardest part at first. And then, just taking the criticism from them and being able to learn from it was another thing. You have to realize that these guys know what they’re doing. You need to know which line you can cross and which ones you can’t. So like, when a director is talking about a story or a producer is writing a story, and she is struggling to come up with a line, I have to know whether or not it’s an OK time to intervene and say something. I think my biggest struggle was on Sunday with the 9/11 story. It is such a sensitive topic even though it has been 15 years. I didn’t want to write the wrong thing and be insensitive or create a bias by chance or anything like that.
G: What has been the most fun experience at your internship?
Allen: The most fun is actually joking around with Rick Williams who is one of the anchors there. When I met him four years ago, he was such a personable guy. He got pizza with us — ate in his shirt and tie — and talked to us about the industry. And then, when I came in, I introduced myself to him because, you know, it had been four years and he probably didn’t remember me, and he said, “You look familiar.”
I was like “I was the kid you ate pizza with four years ago when we came from PW [Plymouth Whitemarsh].” And we’ve just been having this ongoing joke about pizza. The whole welcoming environment that they promote is so nice.
G: What advice would you give to other students looking for internships?
Allen: Do whatever you can to stand out the most. 6ABC has been the number one show for the last 30 years in the fourth largest market in the United States. It is the hardest internship you can probably get in this field and so, in my head, before I even began applying for this internship, I had this idea of “How can i make myself stand out.” Especially in communications because it is such a competitive field.
Ask yourself, “What can you do to stand out and be better than the next guy?”
I went to CHC to build a studio versus going somewhere else to get an education. And just constantly network. Because if I didnt network and if I didn’t have that opportunity in high school I wouldn’t have the internship right now. Don’t freak out about the interview either.
G: Where do you plan on going after your internship?
Allen: I told ABC this in my interview because they basically asked the same question. And I said to them, “Chestnut Hill is where I get a basic education and ABC is where I will learn broadcast journalism.”
I’ll take everything I learn from ABC and make Chestnut Hill my workshop. And so basically, in one week, I’ve changed the entire format of how we do our show because I’ve copied everything that they’ve done. Everything that they’ve taught me about how to write, I’ve been teaching everybody at my station. I was printing out sports teleprompters and giving them to my sports people so they can see how the professionals write it. So the internship is a great learning experience for me but it’s also a great chance for me to implement everything from there in our show. And I can teach so many other students how to do these things because not everybody is going to have this opportunity. Everybody is learning from this internship rather than just me.
