For the past several months we’ve been working with our first-ever intern, Megan Noggle. She heads back to college at the end of August, so we wanted to check in on what she’s learned and send her back with a little help for those school bills.
The work: Noggle’s internship included writing nearly 20 articles, editing and proofreading, helping with our social media, connecting with the community at events, and more. We did informational interviews with industry pros, read and discussed books on journalism (OK, book singular!), and shared insights on the industry and professional development.
Highlights: Having an intern gave me breathing room while also expanding what we could cover. Noggle broke news while I was on vacation and covered meetings when I was out of town. Our neighborhood news coverage has been better thanks to her efforts.
Give Our Intern a Bonus
How this works: West St. Paul Reader is member supported. Hundreds of neighbors like you pay anywhere from $3 to $20 a month and that pays our bills (learn more about membership). It amounts to part-time work and allows us to keep the community informed.
Paid internship: Historically, journalism internships can be poorly paid (my first internship 25 years ago was unpaid—I subsisted as a street performer on the weekends!), but we did our best to give Noggle a decent-ish wage. Our members made that possible (thank you!).
Bonus pay: But we’d love to send Noggle off to study journalism with an end-of-the-summer bonus. If you appreciate our work and have enjoyed her articles, please consider donating to Megan Noggle via her Venmo account (the last four digits of her phone number are 5190). Any money donated will go directly to Noggle to be used for living and educational expenses.
We’re grateful to Noggle for her work, our members for making this internship possible in the first place, and your generosity in supporting Noggle any way you can. Thank you.
A Conversation With Noggle
Noggle grew up in West St. Paul and graduated from Two Rivers High School. She will be studying journalism at Concordia College in Moorhead in the fall.
Why are you interested in journalism?
I have always been a writer—one who has grown up in increasingly unprecedented times. It’s a generation of whistleblowers and misinformation, and deciphering it all can be a daunting task. It’s journalists who crack the breaking news, journalism that brings to light important societal developments. Without it, we would be nowhere near as connected as we are now.
I’m interested in upholding that transparency and ensuring the important things get to those who need to hear them. You can’t control what people do with the information you give them, but you can ensure they are informed. And that in itself is so important.
What was your favorite story to cover?
The one that immediately comes to mind is Dunham’s closing. Even though the article was bittersweet, it was my first real shot at covering breaking news. I had a lot of fun calling around and digging up details, and watching the views climb afterward was astounding. It’s incredibly heartwarming to see how much people care.
What are you most looking forward to in school?
I am definitely eager to find and make connections with people my age first entering the field. I’ve had tons of opportunities to talk to more seasoned journalists during my internship, which is valuable in its own right. But I am especially excited to meet people I can learn with, those who have the same ambitions as me.
How did this internship help you? What did you get out of it?
It helped me strengthen my interviewing skills, which I struggled with when I started contributing. The hands-on, one-on-one experience with Kevin and other journalists gave me incredibly valuable insight into improving my writing style. I’ve made invaluable connections and have a lot more experience under my belt.
Overall though, it allowed me to explore a passion that I previously wasn’t sure how to pursue. Now I have a direction to move forward and continue improving my work.
What will you miss about West St. Paul while you’re away at school?
I love the community here. I recently moved out of West St. Paul completely, and I’ve been finding every excuse I can to make the drive back over. When that journey becomes a multi-hour expedition, however, it becomes much more difficult to justify.
I grew up in West St. Paul, and I’ll definitely miss all the people I’ve met here. Not to mention all the little nooks and crannies hidden around the city that make West St. Paul what it is. I’m a big biker, too, and I worry that I won’t have the same access to trails as in West St. Paul.
Thanks again to Megan Noggle for working as our intern and a contributing writer before that. Remember to make a donation to Noggle as a thank you for her hard work.