Following a weeklong training session at Arizona State University, Thomas Neas ’15 will begin a 10-week paid internship with The Palm Beach Post.
The program will pay for Neas to spend the last week of May attending a digital training session at Arizona State University in Phoenix, Arizona. He is one of 14 participants headed to the Arizona session, joining students from American University, Rutgers University, Temple University and the University of Missouri, among other institutions.
Following the training’s conclusion, the Chapel Hill native will head to West Palm Beach, Florida, and The Palm Beach Post, assisting with web content management, online editing, content curation and social media. The internship, which begins in late June, lasts 10 weeks and includes a salary starting at $400 per week.
Neas credited Harlen Makemson, professor of communications, for encouraging him to take last fall’s Dow Jones editing test, which led him to this “incredible opportunity.”
While he didn’t have final say over his internship placement – the program partnered with 56 leading news organizations across the country – and he’s never visited that part of Florida, Neas expressed excitement for the chance to continue his education in the Sunshine State.
Having worked as a data desk intern at The Baltimore Sun last summer, Neas explained that on the advice of his Baltimore Sun colleagues he sought out another internship opportunity this year. “I think this will be great preparation and help round me out a little more,” he said.
Neas traces his interest in digital journalism back to a web publishing course he took with Dianne Finch, a visiting assistant professor in the School of Communications. “I’d say that’s what really pushed me in this direction,” he said.