(Editor’s Note: This is the seventh in a series of stories about internships being completed by students in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications.)
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A summer internship with CNN might be enough for some college students, especially ones who’ve long hoped to become journalists and work on television.
Jade Bramwell was not satisfied with just one internship, though.
Because she’s driven, likes to be busy and does not want to miss an opportunity, her summer also includes a nine-week summer media fellowship in New York City and a role as student multimedia project member at the National Association of Black Journalists Convention, scheduled July 31 to Aug. 4 in Chicago.
“It gets a little bit tricky in terms of the schedule,” said Bramwell, a Penn State journalism major from Jackson, New Jersey. “Sometimes a lot of things are happening at night, or I’ll be on Zoom call while I’m on the way to work.
“My first week, I went to ‘Good Morning America’ as part of a site visit for the fellowship to start the day and then I worked that night at CNN. It was a long day, but a good day.”
It was especially good for Bramwell who met “Good Morning America” anchor Robin Roberts. Bramwell said she’s wanted to be on TV since she was 6, thanks to Roberts.
“She was the first Black woman I saw on air every day and I remember wondering ‘Why does she get to talk to Hannah Montana and random Disney people?’ Plus, as you get older and watch more you just appreciate how good she is,” said Bramwell, who worked on the award-winning, student-produced “Centre County Report” newscast at Penn State last spring.
Meeting Roberts was an emotional moment for Bramwell, who admits it could’ve gone a little better.
“I was crying like a child. It was very bad,” Bramwell said. “But she was nurturing and kind, and I got to take a picture with her. It was just a very cool experience.”
Bramwell has been piling up those experiences at Penn State. She stated her career at Penn State Altoona and moved to the University Park campus as soon as she could in pursuit of more hands-on opportunities.
Her IRTS Summer Fellowship offers educational and networking opportunities in New York City. The role at the NABJ Convention comes with multifaceted challenges.
Penn State has 13 students headed to the conference, and although Bramwell has been a driving force behind revitalizing the organization’s on-campus chapter, she will not be attending the conference like the others. She’ll serve on the multimedia team that essentially provides news coverage of the event for attendees.
“Being selected for that is such a unique opportunity. That exercise is basically a full summer’s internship,” said Walter Middlebook, the Foster Professor of Practice in the Department of Journalism at Penn State. He’s also the NABJ chapter adviser. “Students get on-on-one story assignments, editing and collaboration. They’re basically part of a 24/7 news operation, working with some of the best journalists out there, during the convention.”
Bramwell’s duties at CNN this summer have been in support of “CNN NewsNight,” hosted by Abby Phillip, and the summer’s news has moved her outside her comfort zone at times while appreciation how her preparation on campus put her in a position to succeed.
She feels “overprepared” in some ways for things like editing video and working on a deadline, she said, simply because she did that on a regular basis as part of the student-produced newscast. She’s comfortable pitching stories based on the show’s audience and what she knows performs well, collaborating, and working hard to contribute to make the show successful.
Work begins each day at 3 p.m., and while politics was not atop her list of preferred subjects the news this summer has made what she wants somewhat irrelevant, she said. She appreciates the irony and just keeps helping as needed as an intern, honing her skills and working hard.
Plus, Phillip was named as an honorary member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority nationally and Bramwell was initiated into the group’s Penn State chapter this spring.
“On an everyday basis Abby showcases what it means to be a Black woman in media,” Bramwell said. “My sorority sisters at school have also made the experience worthwhile as they've been supporting me through it all. I constantly feel the ‘We Are …’ spirit all around me."
Middlebrook, who has collaborated with Bramwell extensively as she has worked to revitalize the NABJ chapter, said he believes other influences have given Bramwell the strength to persist and succeed.
“It’s about where she comes from and her family,” he said. “She’s not afraid to ask questions, even in a big lecture setting. Sometimes students shy away from that, but not her. She’s a go-getter.”