COLUMBUS — Ohio University’s Scripps College of Communication administrators met with the Ohio Department of Public Safety senior staff today to announce an annual internship program between the two entities, deemed “Communicating for a Safer Ohio.”
“We met in the fall with the dean and some of the staff at the Scripps school with the idea to capitalize on the talent of the students at Ohio University and the national reputation for excellence that the school produces,” said John Born, the public safety department’s director and Scripps school graduate.
The program will hire nine interns from Scripps each year. After an internal application process within the college, the department will hire three interns each fall, spring and summer semester: a social media intern, web/video producer intern and a copy writer/editor intern.
Born said he hopes to harness the expertise of the “social-media generation” through these internships, with a goal of connecting with younger Ohioans through campaigns developed by “the tech-generation.”
The positions will be paid and could change through subsequent semesters and will begin this summer. Though it is not the only “exclusive” internship program OU provides its students, it is still special, said Scripps Dean Scott Titsworth.
“What’s unique is it’s the first venture we’ve had with not only a public agency but a public agency in the state of Ohio,” Titsworth said. “We can now expose our students to a potentially very important career track …”
Now that the program has officially been announced, Titsworth said the university will begin heavily advertising it within the Scripps College. However, interested students can immediately contact Karen Peters in the dean’s office at petersk@ohio.edu for more information.
Will Drabold is a fellow in Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism Statehouse News Bureau.
This article originally ran in print under the headline: "New internship debuts at Scripps"
