At Resolve, we believe that developing a strong, intentional, and multi-layered internship program provides great benefits to the individuals who choose to intern with us, to us as an organization, and to our industry at large. We greatly appreciate the value and expertise that all Resolve interns and fellows bring to the table, and our staff works hard to create a valuable, meaningful experience that will support them in their future endeavors.
Recently, we caught up with Lucy Tobier, Resolve’s current Collaborative Reporting Intern, to learn more about her experience. Check out what she had to say below.
How would you describe this internship experience to others?
Interning at Resolve allowed me to learn so much about newsrooms in Philadelphia, while also working on my own stories for Chalkbeat and with Steve Volk. Working with Gene Sonn and Siani Colón for the Philadelphia Journalism Collaborative, I supported partner newsrooms by creating social media promotions for articles, doing background research for potential stories, and helping to host events.
I’m most grateful for the incredible knowledge and love of Philadelphia that the Resolve team has shared with me. Being able to learn more about local politics and developments from their experience, residents, and grassroots organizations was crucial to better reporting practices that I’ll use for the rest of my life.
How would you describe the culture at Resolve Philly?
The culture at Resolve is incredibly collaborative and open to helping everyone access the same tools for better engagement. Stories I worked on drew on multiple members of the team, such as immense help from Julie Christie to examine out-of-school suspension data or suggestions for additions to an updated gun violence resource page published on Resolve’s website.
Looking back, what do you wish you would have known before starting this internship?
Looking back, I would suggest future interns read more articles from partner newsrooms before starting at Resolve to have ideas about which journalists they would like to connect with and what sorts of topics are left uncovered or need more attention in Philadelphia. This was really important work during my internship, especially while pitching stories or deciding what to search for in data, but it would also be helpful to have ideas before starting.
What has been most rewarding about your work?
Being able to interview community members and share their stories was by far the most rewarding part of my internship. Through reporting supported by Resolve, I felt I was able to immerse myself in ongoing conversations around education and reform, and highlight voices. Being able to talk about these interviews and what I was seeing in my work with Gene and the Community Engagement team was invaluable and something new to me during reporting.
It was also touching to see partner newsrooms express appreciation for each other during monthly meetings, and see firsthand how much of an impact working collaboratively had on their stories and capacity.
What’s next for you?
I’ll be continuing to study English and economics at Swarthmore College, and write for our paper The Phoenix. I’ll also be continuing to report on labor for The Nation and rural news for The Daily Yonder. I’m excited to remain in the Philadelphia area and continue to think about how community-based reporting can support everyone involved.