Intern season

Last summer The Millerton News lost an outstanding reporter, Kaitlin Lyle, who had covered the news for the paper for five years. Many readers still talk about Kaitlin, recalling her byline on so many stories. Kaitlin was moving on to bigger pastures at The News-Times in Danbury. Upon her departure, she commented about what it meant to get close to the communities covered by The Millerton News.

Here’s what she said: “I didn’t know much about them (the communities), which businesses are time honored, how government worked, the school communities, what sets people apart from everyone else. I like doing a deeper dive into the communities I thought I knew to learn there was so much more to uncover.”

Kaitlin was a junior in college when she decided to inquire about a summer internship at The Lakeville Journal, our sister paper, which has a reputation for intensive, hands-on internships. Again this year, The Journal and The News will sponsor paid internships for a few promising journalists.

Our editors are in touch with journalism schools in the tri-state region as part of a recruiting effort, including some in Dutchess County.

On Saturday, the papers participated in an intern job fair at UConn in Storrs, where more than 50 journalism students who are either rising seniors or are about to graduate got a chance to meet newsroom editors representing newspapers, online publications, and radio and television stations.

The event was sponsored by UConn’s Department of Journalism and its Society of Professional Journalists.

At Storrs, it was encouraging to see so much journalism crammed into one room at Oak Hall. Journalism seemed alive and well — although it is on the move.  The experience and interests among tomorrow’s journalists includes print media, but obviously has reached past the print model to social media, video, television and radio news programming, blogging, and whatever is coming.

Since Kaitlin’s departure last summer, The Millerton News also has been on the move. With generous support from The Lakeville Journal Foundation, which publishes The News as a 501 (c)(3) organization, we have been building our staff  across eastern Dutchess County. That includes town coverage of the Village of Millerton, the Town of North East, and Pine Plains, Millbrook and Amenia.

We have added several new part-time staff people, and full-time Managing Editor Emily Edelman, and bolstered reporting with some new writers. Our goal is to provide primary coverage to eastern Dutchess County readers, and give our readers stories that span the regional landscape.

This summer, we look forward to sponsoring our own group of interns, and we will introduce them to you when they arrive in town.

If you or someone you know would like to be considered for our intern program, please send an email to Susan Hassler, Publisher, The Lakeville Journal Company, susanh@lakevillejournal.com.