JMC Internship Program Requirements
Including Instructions and Resources for Essays
1. Seminar participation – The intern will participate in a once-aweek seminar/class at noon on Thursdays during the semester he/she
is enrolled in JMC 495 (Important: see “Attendance Policy”).
2. 120 hours – The intern will work for a professional supervisor for
a minimum of 120 hours in not less than four weeks.
3. Attendance and deadlines – The intern will perform in a professional manner, including punctuality and meeting of deadlines.
Students should plan to be at work, on time and alert, every day of
their internship. Students must handle emergency absence requests
directly with their professional supervisors.
4. Outside reading, quizzes and discussion – Reading and
discussion of the textbook, When Reality Hits: What Employers Want
Recent College Graduates To Know, by Nancy Barry, Brown Books
Publishing Group, Dallas, 2007, and other assigned readings that may
be distributed in class or posted on the course Blackboard or blog site.
Quizzes or short papers may be required on some of the outside
readings.
5. Textbook papers -- Write four short reports (at least 250 words
each) summarizing what you learned from reading the textbook, When
Reality Hits: What Employers Want Recent College Graduates to Know.
Like all work for this class, these papers must be typed and will be
graded in part on the student’s use of good grammar, correct spelling
and logical thinking. Please check the class schedule for due dates for
these papers. Failure to submit all four of these papers disqualifies a
student from receiving an “A” for this course.
6. Required forms -- The intern is responsible for seeing that his or
her internship supervisor completes and submits a contract, mid-term
evaluation form and final evaluation form by the appropriate
deadlines. Copies of these forms are included with this syllabus and
are available on the course website. Please note that the mid-term
and final evaluation forms MUST be mailed to the internship director’s
attention (that’s me) from the supervisor, preferably in a sealed
company envelope. Evaluation forms mailed to me by the student or
included with the portfolio will not be accepted. It is the student’s
responsibility to ensure that these forms are submitted in a timely
manner. Late forms may negatively impact a student’s grade in this
class.
7. Portfolio – Each student will prepare an Internship Portfolio. The
portfolio should be professionally bound using plastic or wire spiral
binding, a clear plastic front cover and a solid plastic back cover. It
MUST include these elements:
a. Title page – The title page should include your name, where
you did your internship (company and city) and the date of your
internship. Many students choose to use color and graphic design
to make an attractive title page but this is not required.
b. Introduction – A one-page description of the
assigned work, an explanation of duties, identity of professional
supervisor, and a description of pre-internship expectations.
c. Daily journal – Students must maintain a typed journal that
chronicles their daily experiences on the internship, including a
review of key tasks, analysis and observations. This journal should
be maintained on a daily basis and may be requested for viewing at
any time during the internship by the JMC department’s internship
director. A printed copy of the journal must be included in the final
portfolio.
d. Work product – Work can be presented in the portfolio in a
variety of formats. For students who write media stories, news
releases or other documents, photocopies of your work are
acceptable. You may include radio, TV, podcast and video projects
in CD or DVD formats, but please include a plastic pocket designed
to hold the disk so that it won’t get separated from your portfolio;
include your name on the CD or DVD. Samples of photography
may also be included. Ad/PR students may include samples of
research, internal planning documents, or samples of finished public
relations, media relations or creative work.
e. Intern’s Post-fieldwork Response form – Type answers that
respond to nine of the questions in the list shown in the postfieldwork response form, which is included with this syllabus and is
available online on the course website. See the form for
instructions.
f. Executive summary – A one- to two-page narrative summary
of the learning experience.
8. Senior essays – Each student must write three essays (1,000
words each) that cover global diversity, domestic diversity and ethics,
respectively. These essays are due at the same time as the internship
portfolio.
9. Oral presentation – You must make an oral presentation about
your internship experience and the series of essays submitted with
your portfolio. This presentation will be made to a panel of JMC
department faculty. A sign-up sheet will be made available in class.
10. Deadline – Internship portfolios must be submitted within four
weeks of the final day of fieldwork as an intern. Please note that (1)
You will NOT receive credit for this course and cannot graduate from
the university until the portfolio is submitted and approved, (2) Late
portfolios WILL result in a lower final grade, and (3) The portfolios,
once submitted, are property of the university and are kept on file for
accreditation purposes. If you want to keep a portfolio for your own
use, please make a personal copy. You are also encouraged to keep
electronic copies in your computer of your introduction, daily log,
responses to the “post fieldwork response form” and your executive
summary until you have received a grade for this class on your
transcript, in the event that your portfolio is lost after being submitted.
Department of Journalism and Mass Communication
JMC Internship/Portfolio Course
Internship Essay
After completing your 120-hour internship, write an essay that
responds to nine of the questions posed in the "Post-fieldwork Essay
Response Form" included in the syllabus for JMC 495, the internship
course, or in the internship packet. You must answer questions 5, 6,
9, 11 and 12 but may choose any four of the other questions based on
what seems most relevant to you. The answer to each question must
be at least 100 words in length. This essay should demonstrate good
critical thinking skills and a clear understanding of professional and
ethical behavior and expectations at mass communication places of
employment.
This essay, unlike the others in this program, does NOT need to follow
APA style and does NOT require citing of outside sources. All of the
essays, however, should exhibit well-edited, quality writing that
incorporates good logic, grammar and style and are free of typos and
misspelled words. Please proofread your work carefully before
submitting it.
Essential essay components
1. Demonstrates sound critical thinking skills
2. Demonstrates a clear understanding of professional and ethical
behavior and expectations at a mass communication employer
3. Demonstrates professional writing and evaluation skills
INTERN’S POST-FIELDWORK RESPONSE
(Instructions: Please type your answers to nine of the questions in the following
list. You MUST answer questions # 5, 6, 9, 11 and 12 and may choose any four of
the remaining questions to answer. Please number your answers to correspond
with the question numbers in this list. Each answer should be at least 100 words in
length, for a total of at least 900 words. Please write in complete sentences, using
good grammar, spelling, style and critical thinking skills appropriate for an upperdivision JMC major at ACU.)
1. My first day on my internship caused me to ….
2. My on-the-job internship supervisor ….
3. I often wished I knew how to ….
4. I functioned at or above expectations because I knew how to ….
5. I was most comfortable when I was assigned to ….
6. I was most uncomfortable when I was assigned to ….
7. If I had it to do over, I would pay more attention (or work harder) in JMC
….
8. I would advise new interns to ….
9. The fieldwork opened my eyes to ….
10. I learned I need to improve my work habit of ….
11. My internship experience was impacted by my faith by ….
12. Now that the fieldwork is done, I hope ….
Department of Journalism and Mass Communication
JMC Internship/Portfolio Course
Ethical Decision Making
Write a 1,000-word essay that applies your understanding of ethical
decision making to a situation. This essay may be based on either a
specific incident in which you were involved or became aware during
your internship, or you may write on a case study of a topic relevant
to the field in which your internship took place. In either case, be sure
to demonstrate your ability to explain and evaluate the event from a
mass communication perspective. Please follow APA style for writing
this paper and properly cite a minimum of three sources. See the
following link for an explanation of using APA style:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/.
Essential essay components
1. Accurately identifies and explains an event relevant to a discussion
of ethical decision-making.
2. Accurately identifies the key principles involved that are related to
ethical decision-making.
3. Evaluates and analyzes alternative points of view that can be used
in addressing the key principles.
4. Draws warranted, fair-minded conclusions about the most
appropriate course of action based on all available evidence.
5. Justifies those conclusions, clearly and logically explaining the
assumptions and reasoning behind them.
Ethics resources for JMC internship students
The following sources will provide valuable insights into ethics and
ethical issues faced in mass communication career fields and the
broader society.
JMC specific:
Poynter Institute (see “Ethics and Diversity”):
http://www.poynter.org/subject.asp?id=32
Public Relations Society of America (see “Intelligence” and “Ethics”):
http://www.prsa.org/AboutPRSA/Ethics/?utm_source=prsa_website&u
tm_medium=top_nav_intelligence&utm_campaign=ethics_nav
Society of Professional Journalists (see “Journalism Ethics”)
http://www.spj.org/ethicsbook.asp
American Advertising Federation (see “Advertising Ethics and
Principles”) http://www.aaf.org/default.asp?id=37
Indiana University, Journalism Ethics Cases Online:
http://journalism.indiana.edu/resources/ethics/#bottom-line-decisions
Institute for Public Relations Research:
http://www.instituteforpr.org/research/ethics/
AEJMC (use “search” function): http://www.aejmc.com/
Other sites:
Harvard Business School (use search feature): http://www.hbs.edu/
Department of Journalism and Mass Communication
JMC Internship/Portfolio Course
Domestic Diversity Essay
Write a 1,000-word essay that applies your understanding of how your
field of mass communication intersects with diverse cultures in
American society. This essay may be based on a specific incident in
which you were involved or became aware of during your internship, a
part-time job in a mass communication field, your experience as a
student in the JMC department, or on a case study of a topic relevant
to the field in which your internship took place. In any case, be sure to
demonstrate your ability to explain and evaluate the event or
experience from a mass communication perspective. Please follow
APA style for writing this paper and properly cite a minimum of three
sources. See the following link for an explanation of using APA style:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/.
Essential essay components
1. Accurately identifies and explains an event relevant to a discussion
of domestic diversity.
2. Accurately identifies the key principles involved that are related to
domestic diversity.
3. Evaluates and analyzes alternative points of view that can be used
in addressing the key principles.
4. Draws warranted, fair-minded conclusions about the most
appropriate course of action based on all available evidence.
5. Justifies those conclusions, clearly and logically explaining the
assumptions and reasoning behind them.
Department of Journalism and Mass Communication
JMC Internship/Portfolio Course
Global Diversity Essay
Write a 1,000-word essay that applies your understanding of how your
field of mass communication intersects with diverse cultures in the
global society. This essay may be based on a specific incident in which
you were involved or became aware of during your internship, a parttime job in a mass communication field, your experience as a student
in the JMC department, or on a case study of a topic relevant to the
field in which your internship took place. In any case, be sure to
demonstrate your ability to explain and evaluate the event or
experience from a mass communication perspective. Please follow
APA style for writing this paper and properly cite a minimum of three
sources. See the following link for an explanation of using APA style:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/.
Essential essay components
1. Accurately identifies and explains an event relevant to a discussion
of global diversity.
2. Accurately identifies the key principles involved that are related to
global diversity.
3. Evaluates and analyzes alternative points of view that can be used
in addressing the key principles.
4. Draws warranted, fair-minded conclusions about the most
appropriate course of action based on all available evidence.
5. Justifies those conclusions, clearly and logically explaining the
assumptions and reasoning behind them.
Diversity resources for JMC internship students
JMC specific:
Forum on Media Diversity, Manship School of Mass Communication,
Louisiana State University:
http://www.mediadiversityforum.lsu.edu/
Public Relations Society of America diversity section (see separate
PRSA diversity blog, forum and newsroom).
http://www.prsa.org/Diversity/?utm_source=prsa_website&utm_medi
um=top_nav_intelligence&utm_campaign=diversity_nav
The Institute for Public Relations:
http://www.instituteforpr.org/research/diversity/
American Association of Advertising Agencies:
http://www.aaaa.org/searchcenter/Pages/Results.aspx?k=diversity
Poynter Institute (see “Ethics and Diversity”):
http://www.poynter.org/subject.asp?id=32