Cultivating my environmental journalism and audio storytelling skills at NPR’s biggest station

SOJC journalism student Becky Hoag standing with KQED senior science editor Kat Snow.

Post by Becky Hoag
Photos courtesy of Becky Hoag

At some point last fall, I suddenly realized that the summer between junior and senior year was the prime time to get an internship. I had already built a decent portfolio working for the student-run environmental publication Envision, the university radio station KWVA, as an intern for the UO School of Journalism and Communication (SOJC) Communication Office, and writing for Science & Memory Oregon Coast. But, knowing how crucial in-the-field experience is to landing a job after graduation, I didn’t want to miss this chance for an off-campus internship.

How I landed my internship

I knew I wanted to work in a newsroom in the Bay Area so I could commute from my parents’ house during the summer, so I kept my search to publications in San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose. I also wanted to get experience as a science and environmental journalist, so I narrowed the list to media organizations with a science beat, like The Mercury News, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the San Francisco-based NPR station KQED.

Next, I researched who wrote for the science and environmental sections at each of the organizations and read or listened to their work. One name stuck out to me: Paul Rogers.

Rogers works on The Mercury News’ environmental beat and is the managing editor of the KQED science desk. He’s also affiliated with the UC Santa Cruz Science Communication Master’s program. I knew it would be a long shot, but I emailed all the addresses I could find for Rodgers to ask him about opportunities and sent him a link to my portfolio. The next thing I knew, I was talking to him on the phone.

After asking about my career ambitions and experience, he told me to email KQED senior science editor Kat Snow. She responded the next day and said she looked at my portfolio! She was intrigued by my work for Science & Memory and said she heard great things about the program and about Professor Deb Morrison from her nephew, an SOJC and Science & Memory alum.

Snow and I met in person over winter break in downtown San Francisco. I wore dress pants to a Starbucks. We brainstormed some hopes and plans for a new KQED series called “This Moment on Earth” that would feature individuals’ experiences dealing with the effects of climate change and how they were preparing for the future.

She was interested in bringing me on as a summer intern—if I could improve my audio production skills. So I snatched the last open spot in Damian Radcliffe’s Audio Storytelling course during winter term.

I learned a ton in Audio Storytelling. I practiced a lot at UO’s KWVA. And at the end of the term, I asked Radcliffe and Morrison to send letters of recommendation to Snow. It worked! I was officially accepted into the program.

The internship

During the KQED intern orientation, I met fellow interns and learned much about what was to come, from how to use the audio equipment to how to sit at your desk without causing bodily harm. Employees from several departments were on hand to teach us how to ask good questions and how to present ourselves professionally. They also spoiled us with KQED gear: coffee mugs, gym bags, reusable utensil kits, and more.

I was one of the youngest interns, as most were either right out of undergrad or in grad school. I was also the only student attending school outside California. Many of the interns were part of a partnership between KQED and their nearby schools.

Three other interns worked on the science desk: two science graduate students with minimal journalism experience and a social media guru undergraduate from University of California, Berkeley. They worked on the programs “Science News” and “Deep Look,” so I didn’t work with them often, but we did meet in the lunch room sometimes.

Two or three times a week, I drove the hour from my home in South Bay to downtown San Francisco, where KQED paid me to work 18 hours a week. I had my own cubicle — which I decorated with a jellyfish poster and a small UO Duck — right near Snow’s office. 

I used Dalet Galaxy for audio editing. Once I got the hang of the program, Snow asked me to edit some recorded interviews that hadn’t been turned into a cohesive story yet.

“This Moment on Earth” airs three-minute segments where interviewees talk about how climate change has affected them. The raw interviews, however, are usually 30-60 minutes long, so there’s plenty of cutting to be done. Once I created a draft, I would put it into Snow’s digital folder or schedule a meeting for us to listen to it together.

This program started in the spring but stalled because everyone at the science desk was too busy to give it much attention. My job was to give it a reboot. I contacted people to interview and maintained a spreadsheet marking my progress. I ended up creating four segments, three of which featured interviews I conducted with:

Toward the end of the summer, KQED’s “The California Report” also picked up the stories, so they reached all of California.

My internship aligned nicely with the Global Climate Action Summit led by California Governor Jerry Brown — the largest international conference since the Paris Climate Accord. Meanwhile, record-breaking fires were raging around the state.

What I learned

In addition to sharpening my audio storytelling and editing skills, I learned a lot about the industry I want to build a career in.

Our weekly science meetings often got passionate, particularly during environmental discussions. It’s a constant challenge for environmental writers to cover something as controversial and serious as climate change. Because the topic can be overwhelming and scary, there’s a risk that too many depressing stories will cause the audience to become numb and tune out. Then again, if you write too many positive stories, your audience won’t feel like they need to take action.

I couldn’t have been luckier to have Snow for a boss. She’s a powerhouse and a great mentor. She took the time to make sure I understood what I was supposed to do and showed me how best to do it, despite running constantly from meeting to meeting. She led meetings with consideration for everyone’s feelings and opinions. She wasn’t afraid to apologize for misunderstandings and let people explore creative ideas. And she regularly checked in with me to make sure I got everything I wanted out of the internship.

This internship helped me get out of my academic bubble, especially when I interviewed people outside of the Monterey Bay Aquarium about what they do to prepare for climate change. Many more people than I expected didn’t even believe in climate change. I was forced to confront my assumptions, which is an invaluable skill.

I felt at home in KQED, around like-minded folks. Snow and I quickly realized we are kindred spirits: ambitious (which can result in overload) and sensitive about other people’s emotions. It was cool to see someone like me succeeding in the field I want to work in.

And after working as a radio/podcast environmental journalist for a summer, I’m fairly certain I’m on the right track.

Becky Hoag is a senior double-majoring in journalism and environmental science (with a marine focus). This is her second year writing for the SOJC Communication Office. This past summer, she worked as an intern at the KQED science desk in San Francisco, producing content for the new program about climate change, “This Moment on Earth.” She is also a science writer for The Daily Emerald and the student-run environmental magazine Envision Magazine, as well as the website administrator for marine conservation outreach organization Ocean Everblue. She is also a co-host of the Emerald science podcast Spotlight on Science. She wants to become an environmental/scientific journalist. You can view her work at beckyhoag.com.