"Miss a day. Miss a lot."

Although it has become easier, quicker and, many times, more convenient to access the latest news stories through the Internet, I cannot deny the fact that there is something special about holding an actual newspaper in my hand.

But, with that being said, there isn’t any doubt that there is a shift not only in the way that news outlets are disseminating their stories, but also with how individuals are retrieving that information. The widespread use of handheld devices and computers has forced the news industry and its journalists to transform the way they provide information to the public.

All of these thoughts were reinforced by the field trip that the intern class took to the to The Plain Dealer (PD) this afternoon. After Ted, PD’s Reader Representative, welcomed us, we began our experience by having the pleasure of sitting in on one of the main news meetings that occur each and every day. These specific news meetings are a time when all of the section editors can come together to discuss the topics that will be addressed in the next day’s newspaper. This meeting provided us with a glimpse into the daily processes at a large newspaper as well as an opportunity to personally interact with the editors.

After the meeting, Ted took us on a quick tour of the building, giving us a little more information on the roles of the different editors and writers. It is inevitable that newspapers around the world are beginning to restructure themselves in order to accommodate current changes within the newspaper industry, such as those mentioned above. Ted told us that the focus of many newspapers is their financial struggle, which has stemmed from decreasing advertising sales, and not due to a decrease in readership. The way that the PD is dealing with these issues is by trimming down on the number of employees and the number of pages in their newspaper. Ted mentioned a very good point - it is important to note that people around the world are still as intrigued, influenced and interested in reading the news, regardless of the outlets they use to retrieve the information.

As a Liggett intern, I really appreciated the opportunity to visit the PD and better understand life within a newspaper. Throughout the first two weeks of this internship, I have begun to see why this summer experience will be so beneficial. While interning at Liggett, we have the chance to not only work on a wide variety of projects, but also take informative field trips around Cleveland – all of these things will help to provide us with a well-rounded experience at Liggett this summer. I’m looking forward to the upcoming field trips, projects and moving into our new building next week.

Rachel Z.
Connection Planning Intern