ABC TELEVISION NEWS
Marc Hoffman

A student entering his junior year a Syracuse University in New York, Marc Hoffman dreams of being a TV comedy writer. Marc was an editor at his school newspaper, and he belonged to Delta Chi Fraternity. When Marc applied to the Washington Internship Program on March 22 – relatively late for a summer mass-media placement, he requested an internship in television. WIP was able to place Marc at ABC News where he was accepted on May 3 and started at the end of that month where he worked full-time through mid August. Although Marc’s home is in Annapolis, Maryland, he quickly decided that commuting to Arlington, Virginia each day was too difficult, so he lived in a dormitory at George Washington University in downtown D.C. within in one of the quads (four people per room) available to WIP interns. Just one stop on the Metro brought Marc to the studio each day.

As one of ten interns at ABC News, Marc split his time between working at the assignment desk and going into the field with reporters and film crews to cover stories. First Marc attended meetings held each day at 9:00 where newscasters pitched their stories. Marc estimates that he spent half his time following leads with the crew. Most memorable for Marc was coverage of a number of stories: an incident when hackers broke into computers containing veteran information; a time when the satellite truck in which Marc was based accidentally found itself in the middle of a high-speed chase in which suspects were caught and identified with crack cocaine among the illegal drugs in their vehicle; bad storms in June that resulted in the flooding of cars, basements, and other damage for which insurance companies refused to take responsibility after homeowners had paid premiums for decades; and various fatalities – one of which occurred in Arlington where two people were killed at a place where neighbors had been agitating for a speed bump to be built in order to deter motorists from driving cars too fast up an incline. Marc was sent to ask questions and be filmed at a press conference. In addition, he covered a robbery at a grocery store where the thief dressed up in a red wig, and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) offered a reward if the criminal was caught. Marc acted as a cameraman and shot stock footage that might be used on television if the perpetrator is apprehended. Marc conducted interviews on the street with residents in the Georgetown area to see how people felt about the installation of surveillance cameras that would create greater security at the expense of privacy.

Marc was also filmed doing stand-ups of his own to be used in seeking future employment. Marc was “surprised that showing initiative was so important in determining the type of internship each individual had. Following an orientation on the first day, interns were not really told what to do.” Marc had a richer experience because he made friends with many reporters whom he accompanied on shoots. In general, staff at the station expected interns with broadcasting training in college to know what they were doing and help with assignments they preferred. Marc noted the pressure under which reporters must operate to get stories submitted for editing by 3:00 each day in time for the 5:00 evening news. Although Marc enjoyed his internship immensely and found everyone at ABC to be friendly and helpful, he would prefer to write professionally for television programs where weekly deadlines replace daily ones.

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