The rising junior is working with RadicalMedia on the “PBS American Portrait” series this summer, helping further her journalism and multimedia career goals.
Ashlyn DeLoughy, a rising junior double majoring in journalism and dance, was recently awarded a $3,000 summer grant along with a $500 scholarship for the fall 2020 semester through the Scripps Howard Foundation.
The grants are awarded to students in conjunction with the Scripps Howard Awards, which recognizes the top American journalists with $170,000 in prize money.
DeLoughy is spending her summer with RadicalMedia, a global media company with offices in New York, Los Angeles and abroad, as part of the production remote program team for the “PBS American Portrait” series. She helps find and identify stories for the national storytelling project.
“With this grant, I don’t have to worry about finding a minimum wage job,” said DeLoughy, who is working remotely. “I can really fully commit myself to this internship and spend as many hours as I need to pay attention and get the full internship experience.”
This commitment has already provided DeLoughy with the opportunity to gain new responsibilities within the internship program. She recently started working alongside the casting team for the upcoming documentary series.
With RadicalMedia, DeLoughy plays a key role in helping participants tell their stories and enhance their submitted videos, using her journalism background to help guide people who might not be familiar with technology.
“The real demand is finding videos, and also helping people to create those videos,” she said.
When applying for the grant, DeLoughy said she relied heavily on Amber Moser, director of internships with the School of Communications. As DeLoughy’s internship evolved due to COVID-19, Moser reached out to the Scripps Howard Foundation to make sure her application still fit the requirements.
“When I got the email a few days later saying, ‘Congratulations,’ it was really great, but if it wasn’t for Amber Moser I don’t know what I’d do,” DeLoughy said.
As a dance and journalism double major, DeLoughy spends a majority of her time on campus split between the two academic programs, but this summer she’s getting the chance to exclusively focus on journalism and production, which is propelling her toward her career goals.
“This really provides me with a network of a bunch of journalism-related things now that I have this grant,” she said. “That’s definitely something that’s hard for me at Elon because of my double major.”
The “PBS American Portrait” series is a collection of stories submitted by people from across the country to showcase America today. Some of these stories will be chosen to be featured in the different episodes of the documentary series that is scheduled to air nationally in January 2021.
The Scripps Howard Foundation has served more than 1.5 million people since its inception in 1962 with a mission to support community programs and empower journalists.