Donna Rodriguez
Get an internship is the best advice the panelists from the Media Arts Industry Panel could give students interested in a journalism career on Thursday.
Media professionals came to Pierce College to discuss what they do in the media industry and answered questions.
Each of the media professionals went one by one telling their stories of how they got into the business. In most of their stories they talked about their internships and that by becoming interns they found a profession they were more interested in.
The panelists all spoke about how important it is to get an internship job. Being an intern will give students a chance to learn from experience or figure out if that is really what they want to do.
The panelists included people like a former Pierce College student Stacy Long and Chris Ledesma who is the music editor for The Simpsons.
Since a kid Ledesma wanted to lead a band and his experience came from working as a tour guide at Universal Studios. After doing his tours Ledesma observed professionals who lead bands at Universal Studios and became well known.
“Internship is the absolute best way in” said, Ledesma when he discussed the way he got into the business. From always observing professionals at their jobs he became known and through them he was offered to sit in on movies like Back to the Future.
Besides The Simpsons he was also the music editor for the 1996 movie In Cold Blood and the 1993 comedy movie Robin Hood: Men in Tights.
Long was not only a former Pierce College student but she was also the editor-in-chief of the Roundup when she attended Pierce. Now she is a public relations professional which she described as the “unbalanced side of journalism.”
Long also spoke about her feelings towards blogs and Twitter. “Never pitch a blog it’s beneath us” said, Long when blogs were first beginning to appear. She also commented on how journalists are taking steps to using more technology like using Twitter for press releases.
The panelists gave students an idea of where to start and what they should do in order to get themselves familiar with the media industry. If students are interested in a journalistic career they should begin to put their work out for people to see.