Humphries Awardee Madeleine Cook, IAC, 2016, Marks the Halfway Point in her Internships at NPR

I have officially hit the halfway mark of my time at NPR! As bittersweet as it is, I’m glad to have found a rhythm in my days spent at our headquarters in north Capitol. I am pitching stories to the Science desk, editing longer-term photography projects, and am in the middle of publishing two stories with my pictures in them!

One of the best parts of NPR is the hundreds of member stations that spread across the nation. WAMU is DC’s affiliate station, and I recently did some campaign photography for them. I went to a mosque in Fairfax, VA, and photographed the Democratic and Republican candidates running for Congress in that area during a town hall-style speech. I also recently photographed an upcoming exhibition at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History -- I got to go to the exhibit early and takes pictures of paleontologists installing the head of a mosasaur! (A mosasaur is a carnivorous aquatic lizard within the dinosaur specie.)

I also had the opportunity to takeover @nprinterns, the Instagram dedicated to the interns that pass in-and-out of NPR. I believe I rambled about this in my previous blog, but NPR has the BEST cafeteria for its employees, and I spent most of my takeover featuring the food! I also covered the brown bag lunch offered to interns -- we were able to watch a live broadcast with NPR Newscaster Lakshmi Singh. (Check out the story of how Lakshmi was temporarily a meme.)

My first byline was published, woohoo! It’s an exciting feeling to see your name in publication. Because NPR is a digital-only publication, I’ll only see it online, but that doesn’t mean it’s less satisfying! Besides the stories I get assigned by my editor, I also make an effort to pitch my own stories. I am in the early stages of developing a longform story about HIV/AIDS in Washington, D.C. The “AIDS crisis” may have ended a long time ago, but it’s still an ongoing issue in our area, and especially affects minorities, low-income, and homeless populations. As a photojournalism major, I’m developing my visual story in-class but I am also going to pitch it to NPR’s Shots desk. It’s a great example of how internships can impact your classwork in the best way!

- Madeleine Cook, IAC, 2016-17