NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY, TRAVEL MAGAZINE
Monica Hortobagyi

A journalism major who graduated from Loyola University in Chicago, Monica Hortobagyi was a Dean’s List student who previously worked as an intern for First Business News (a nationally syndicated daily financial paper) and a reporter at Mozaic Magazine (Loyola’s social-justice publication). Monica was editor of Urban Pulse (an online, student-produced, social justice journal) and the Cagli Project (a multi-media web documentary on the town of Cagli, Italy). Monica was published in the Journal of International Relations, she served as a delegate to the SPJ National Convention, and she won an award for excellence in Italian and French. Monica lived with a host family in Rennes, France and later studied at Loyola’s Rome Center in Italy. Monica applied to the Washington Internship Program on July 6, 2006 and requested an internship in writing as well as international affairs. One of the placements she specifically requested was with the National Geographic Society, which accepted her on August 25 to work at the National Geographic Traveler through mid December. WIP also placed Monica at USA Today and arranged for this second internship to start in January. Between these two spectacular opportunities, Monica visited family and then went to Rome for a short trip. During the first internship, Monica lived at WIP’s International House. Because the second internship begins in January 2007, Monica’s description of that experience will appear in the annual report WIP releases next year. Her paper on the first placement, located on 17th Street, N.W. just blocks from the White House, is quoted below:


Monica Hortobagyi (seated, far left) with
National Geographic logo

“My three-month internship with National Geographic was extremely rich in character and contacts. Initially, I was surprised to see how many interns the Society hires along with the quality and complexity of projects assigned to students, but after immersing myself in the company’s culture, I now understand that such contributors are valued as a demographic connection with future subscribers. My primary responsibility throughout the internship was to collect information and develop content for a long-term online project.  I helped editors modify their approach to be more user-friendly and presented my ideas at a meeting attended by the top two editors of the magazine. To my great satisfaction, these leaders embraced my vision of the project. In addition, the assistant online editor and I researched and wrote an article together, which will be published under our joint byline on the Traveler website in March 2007. I requested involvement with the research department, in response to which I was given the opportunity to fact-check three articles – one of which appeared in the January / February edition, and the other two are slotted to be published in March. I also attended staff meetings and edited pieces. I enjoyed these activities tremendously due to the insight I gained into magazine production, the evolution of articles, and the mental processes cherished by one of the finest magazines in the world.”

“I took a number of classes on research methods taught at the National Geographic Library. These seminars were titled: “Researching plants and Animals,” “Strategies of Effective Research,” “Basics of Nexis,” “Advanced Web Research,” “Researching People,” “Finding Experts,” “Researching Markets and Industry,” and “Finding Information on the World’s Most Dangerous Spots.” I also attended an employee-skills course on time management, which identified organizational tips, tactics for self-discipline, daily mistakes that are common to most workplaces, and approaches for maximizing  professional potential. The efficient atmosphere at National Geographic offers workers flexibility and supportive features like access to a gym, mail services, and dry-cleaning. Special lectures and other educational activities are held during lunch or in the evening. Two excellent seminars that I appreciated dealt with immigration and the fiftieth anniversary of a trek to the Arctic Circle by George Schaller and Jon Waterman. Among the evening speakers were: Zainab Salbi, founder of Women for Women International; NASA scientist and Satern expert Caroline Porco; Keith Bellows, editor-in-chief of Traveler magazine; and the “All Roads Film Festival” – a weekend honoring the struggles of indigenous people. Bob Dulli, deputy to the chairman, organized a brown-bag lunch lecture series for interns at which I met the president of the National Geographic Channel, toured the station, and heard staff members from the marketing department discuss programming choices. I also heard Neil Shea discuss his reporting from Iraq. Other supervisors summarized hiring practices and ways to manage ambition while maintaining families.”

“This internship taught me a great deal about conservation, education, research, and office dynamics. I am so grateful.”

USA TODAY

Monica was required to submit many “clips” and writing samples during the summer while under consideration for an internship at this exceptional newspaper. The Washington Internship Program figured that an internship at a monthly publication of the National Geographic would help prepare Monica for the incomparable stresses of a daily paper. Although both internships were originally scheduled to begin in September, WIP was able to move USA Today until winter so Monica wouldn’t need to sacrifice either of these remarkable opportunities. 

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