WISC-TV has a long history of giving aspiring young journalists a foot in the door when it comes to gaining professional experience through its internship program.
APPLY HERE FOR SPRING (JULY – DECEMBER 2022)
SPRING 2022 INTERNS
Tamia Fowlkes: Reporting Intern
Tamia Fowlkes joined the News 3 Now team in January 2022. She is currently an undergraduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, majoring in Journalism and Political Science. Recently, Tamia has worked with the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and with UW-Madison’s Curb Magazine.
Samantha Benish: Reporting Intern
Samantha Benish joined the News 3 Now team in January 2022. She is currently a junior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, majoring in Journalism. She has been with The Daily Cardinal since 2019 and began serving as Life & Style Editor in 2021.
Kim Leadholm: Producing Intern
Kim Leadholm joined the News 3 Now team in January 2022. Kim is a senior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison studying Journalism and Political Science. Kim has been a student intern with PBS Wisconsin’s “Here and Now” and has been a writer since 2020 for The Badger Herald.
WHAT YOU COULD BE DOING
INTERNSHIP TESTIMONIALS
Keely Arthur (2013): Reporter at WRAL-TV in Raleigh, North Carolina
This internship gave me my first taste of what it’s like to be a ‘real reporter.’ As a reporter in a very demanding market now, I can say that without a doubt it prepares you for the real thing! It gave me on-air experience to create a resume reel and introduced me to so many people in the industry and community, which has helped me immensely in landing big stories and opportunities in broadcasting. It is not your typical ‘pick up coffee’ kind of internship, and I’m so grateful for that.
Leah Linscheid (2012/13): WISC-TV News 3 Now This Morning Anchor
I interned at News 3 Now starting in December 2012, and it changed the trajectory of my career. The hands-on experience I received essentially taught me how to be a TV journalist. The internship went above and beyond any other I’d had in the past.
Instead of shadowing reporters and re-learning the basics, I was thrown into the fire to become a reporter for Channel 3 myself. That experience is the reason I got my first job out of college in La Crosse and was able to return to News 3 Now to go from reporter to weekend anchor to morning anchor.
Regardless of whether you pursue a news career or go in another direction, the experience you gain in this internship is invaluable in teaching you real-world skills in television, journalism, communications and more.
Madalyn O’Neil (2015): FOX 6 Milwaukee Reporter
If you’re looking to get a job as a broadcast journalist out of college, the News 3 Now internship is the best way to go. Nothing makes you learn faster than actually doing the work, and this internship throws you right in. You’ll be doing what you would be doing as a full-time multimedia journalist, with a great support system around you to help.
It’s definitely a commitment, but well worth it to prepare for your first job. By the end of the internship, you’ll have been able to build a solid reel that will get you hired and have met plenty of excellent journalists who can help you on your way.
Abby Schinderle (Fall 2020): Graduating from UW-Madison, May 2022
Interning at News 3 Now is truly an opportunity like no other and was undoubtedly the most rewarding undergraduate professional experience I’ve had. What makes the internship program so unique is the level of responsibility that is placed on you as an intern — you get the chance to really experience what it’s like to be a reporter. You often work independently, which allows you to become self-sufficient and grow immensely as a writer.
The News 3 Now team is incredibly supportive and will help you in any way they can for you to succeed. It’s incredibly rare to end an undergraduate internship with a portfolio of your own work that actually aired on TV, which is exactly what this program offers its interns.
The knowledge you gain, the work you do and the guidance you receive will set you far apart from other college reporting students. From the incredible people you meet to the once-in-a-lifetime experiences you get, I truly couldn’t recommend the News 3 Now internship program enough!
Margarita Vinogradov (Fall 2020): Graduating from UW-Madison, May 2022
My News 3 Now internship experience was the most fast-paced, rewarding and educational thing I have ever gotten to do outside of the classroom as a UW-Madison student. Not only did I learn the valuable technical skills that I need in a newsroom — like using a professional camera and tracking my own packages — but (and, perhaps, more importantly) how to always have an eye and ear out for stories in my community.
Everyone at the TV station was an incredible mentor to me throughout the process, so I never felt like I didn’t have someone to lean on when I had a question. But you also truly learn how to improvise on the go and constantly improve your creative process throughout the six months.
If you’re looking for a coffee-run, shadowing the pros internship, this isn’t for you. But if you’re ready to work hard, stay those extra hours to edit and learn to tell the stories of south-central Wisconsin, get ready for an irreplaceable hands-on ride.
Grace Houdek (Spring/Summer 2021): Graduating from UW-Madison, May 2022
In the middle of my junior year, I took an internship at News 3 Now that came to be the hardest, but most rewarding, experience in my life so far. At only 20 years old, I was learning how to professionally find meaningful stories, interview a wide range of individuals, write scripts and edit packages.
I was having my own content air on television, I was going live from the field, and I was living in what felt like a dream. The internship gave me a diverse look into the world of journalism through digital content work and reporting, and pushed me out of my comfort zone and allowed me to enhance myself as a young journalist.
First Warn Forecast
