Internship Program
Curtis Media Group offers an Internship Program designed for students currently enrolled in a college/university and pursuing a degree in Mass Communications or a related field. We would also consider high school students who are taking journalism courses.
Internship requirements are as follows:
- Must be a student currently enrolled in a high school, college, university, or graduate school
- Must be able to participate a minimum of 10 hours per week (and not more than 20)
- Must reside in the market area or be willing to travel to the market weekly
- Must have own transportation
- Must provide two references
- Must have a verifiable GPA of at least 2.8 in Major and 2.5 Overall
- Must be available for a personal interview
Curtis Media Group interns are expected to actively contribute to their assigned projects. Specific internship assignments will vary depending on the needs of the stations, as well as the site and timing of the internship.
Available Internships
News, Sports and Public Affairs
As a News/Sports/Public Affairs Intern you will learn:
- How to write a radio news or sports story
- How to conduct an interview
- How to edit an interview for both short and long-form stories
- How to operate recording equipment
- How to edit wire copy
- How the news and sports departments select stories
- How public affairs programs are put together
- How the station handles the quarterly Issues/Programs List required by teh FCC, including ascertainment
- The difference between chasing a story and developing a story
- Getting the story behind the news
- Student must commit to 10-15 hours per week
- A 2-3 day per week schedule during business hours on weekdays is preferred
- Highly motivated self-starter
- Energetic and thick-skinned
- Interest in news, sports and current events
- Strong verbal and written communication skills
- Proficiency with computers, especially MS Word
- In addition to the Internship Application, you should also complete the News Questionnaire.
- Students will be required to research, write, record and edit a 15-minute public affairs program on a topic mutually agreed upon with the program supervisor at the station.
Programming
As a Programming Intern you will learn:
- How music lists are determined, titles classified and songs rotated
- How the station handles listener comments, e-mails and letters
- How the station books guests for talk shows (if News/Talk format)
- What makes a successful commercial or promotional announcement
- How commercials are written and produced
- How to operate recording equipment
- How the programming clock is determined and how it works
- How stations utilize the services of programming consultants
- How Arbitron works and how the station works to maximize ratings
- How the traffic and billing system works
- How automation and streaming work
- The differences between local, syndicated and satellite radio
- Student must commit to 10-15 hours per week
- A 2-3 day per week schedule during business hours on weekdays is preferred
- Highly motivated self-starter
- Energetic and thick-skinned
- A love for terrestrial radio
- An interest in listener behavior, analytical and creative mindset
- A planner who can quickly pivot to take advantage of unexpected opportunities
- On-air skills are a plus
- Student will be required tow rite a paper dissecting one hour of the morning show and another hour by his or her favorite announcer (music formats) or a paper dissecting an hour of open news/talk and a guested hour by their favorite talk host (news/talk formats).
Sales and Client Marketing
As a Sales and Client Marketing Intern you will learn:
- How to match our listeners to advertisers to help them grow their businesses
- How to identify sales opportunities through research and the "tell me, sell me" process
- The difference between local and national, direct and agency business
- What makes a successful media sales person
- How to set appointments with local business owners
- How to keep an active client base
- How to get to the person who can say "yes"
- How to access vendor support programs
- Why radio is the most effective and efficient medium
- To sell one of the nation's most dynamic radio groups against its competing media outlets
- How to sell with both qualitative and quantitative numbers
- Why radio is the best mainstream option to pair up with today's "new media"
- Building your client's brand with imaging
- Student must commit to 10-15 hours per week
- A 2-3 day per week schedule during business hours on weekdays is required
- Highly motivated self-starter
- Strong verbal and written communications skills
- Creative thinking and writing skills
- Outgoing, energetic and thick-skinned personality
- Interest in advertising and the sales process
- Analytical and creative mind
- Students will be required to research, write and present an advertising and promotional campaign for a mutually agreed-upon client, using co-op and vendor marketing concepts in addition to a radio schedule.
Promotions and Station Marketing
As a Promotions and Station Marketing Intern you will learn:
- Image is everything and how to shape it
- How to develop a station's brand
- The key elements that make a promotion ork
- How we determine what events and opportunities our stations become involved in and how we make our own opportunities
- When to say "no" to promotional opportunities
- When a client promotion makes sense for the station too
- How we use other forms of marketing such as direct mail, TV and print to increase our audience and time spent listening
- How we evaluate the success of our marketing efforts and adjust them accordingly
- FCC and other legal contest rules and procedures
- Student must commit to 10-15 hours per week
- A 2-3 day per week schedule during business hours on weekdays is required
- Highly motivated self-starter
- Energetic, positive personality
- Strength and stamina for physical work and long hours
- A real "people person"
- Creative thinking and writing skills
- Strong organizational and execution skills
- Ability to handle multiple priorities and shift gears quickly
- Students will be required to research, write and present an advertising and promotional campaign for a mutually agreed-upon client, using co-op and vendor marketing concepts in addition to a radio schedule.
Website and Social Media
As a Website and Social Media Intern you will learn:
- How to develop a station website
- How to keep website content fresh and how to encourage page views
- How and when to share information across multiple websites
- How to incorporate links and 'stock' content
- Legal and copyright rules regarding online content
- How to design advertising space that works for the client
- How to make a site interactive
- How to utilize e-mail for building relationships and station loyalty
- How the stations utilize social media to connect with listeners
- Student must commit to 10-15 hours per week
- A 2-3 day per week schedule during business hours on weekdays is required
- Highly motivated self-starter
- Creative thinking and writing skills
- Strong organizational and execution skills
- Ability to handle multiple priorities and shift gears quickly
- Web and graphic design skills a plus
- Strong computer and technical skills
- Understanding of how to use a variety of social media networks
Graphic Design
As a Graphic Design Intern you will learn:
- Editorial Design: You will learn how to support news stories visually by designing charts, graphs and diagrams for publication in the ACC Sports Journal. You'll also learn the basics of newspaper and magazine layout.
- Advertising Design: You'll learn how to develop both in-house and client ads for Curtis Media publications.
- Promotional Design: Learn logo, identity and communication design as you develop promotional materials for internal and external projects.
- Research Skills: You will learn how to stay on the cutting edge of design trends by researching what's working and not working for other publications. You'll also learn how to create more "design time" by researching time-saving techniques and strategies.
- Student must commit to 10-15 hours per week
- A 2-3 day per week schedule during business hours on weekdays is required
- Highly motivated self-starter
- Creative thinking skills
- Strong organizational, communication and execution skills
- Strong working knowledge of Photoshop and InDesign
- Must be comfortable in a fast paced environment with tight deadlines
- Must have a great attitude and work ethic
- Must have a desire/drive to learn and improve your design skills
- Students will complete an editorial or advertising design project from start to finish over the course of their internship.
Engineering and Operations
As an Engineering and Operations Intern you will learn:
- How we use various telecom technologies to send and receive voice and data
- How we use automation to schedule and run programming
- How to download and upload content for affiliate networks
- What ISDN, DSL, T-1 and other telecom options are and how they are used
- How to optimize a station's signal
- What simulcasting signals are and how they work
- What delay technology for news/talk formats is
- How streaming, podcasting and on-demand technology works
- FCC rules of operation and and responsibilities of licensees
- About the Public File and license renewal
- What remote technology is and how it works
- How to engineer the board and follow a log, recording key measurements
- How to manage a LAN, including access, security, shared files and licensing
- How to manage internet access including intranet, security threats, "cloud" computing and other aspecs
- The differences between AM and FM stations - from towers and transmitters to studios and coverage
- Student must commit to 10-15 hours per week
- A 2-3 day per week schedule during business hours on weekdays is required
- Strong organizational, communication and execution skills
- Must have a great attitude and work ethic
- Natural technical ability and analytical mindset
- Process management and oversight skills
- Keep appreciation and respect for authority and the FCC
- Strong computer skills, preferably hardware and software based
- Students will be required to examine a particular subset of an engineering/operations process as identified by the supervisor from start to finish, evaluating strengths and weaknesses and offering cost-effective and efficient suggestions for improvement.
ACC Sports
As an ACCSports.com Intern your tasks will include:
- Writing feature articles about top ACC recruits
- Conducting interviews
- Helping with news aggregation
- Editing interviews for both short and long-form stories
- Editing wire copy
- Line-editing stories both before and after they appear on the website
- Updating the front page of the website
- Student must commit to 10-15 hours per week
- A 2-3 day per week schedule during business hours on weekdays is required
- Highly motivated self-starter
- Energetic and thick-skinned
- Must be comfortable in a fast paced environment with tight deadlines
- Strong interest in sports news and current events
- Strong verbal and written communication skills
- Proficiency with computers, especially MS Word
- Students will be required to research, write, record and edit a 15-minute program on a topic mutually agreed upon with the program supervisor.
Apply
Curtis Media Group interns are expected to actively contribute to the projects assigned. Apply only if you are willing to work hard and are responsible and a quick learner. Specific internship assignments will vary depending on the needs of the stations, as well as the site and timing of the internship.
To apply, email your resume to Katelyn Butner:
CURTIS MEDIA GROUP
Katelyn Butner
Human Resources Department
3012 Highwoods Blvd., Suite 200
Raleigh NC 27604
kbutner@curtismedia.com
Email your resume at least four (4) weeks prior to the semester or term you are requesting to allow time for interviewing and reference checking.
If you have questions, please contact Katelyn Butner by phone at 336-793-7572 or via email.