Making the Most of MTV

Whether it's transcribing an interview with a celebrity, sitting in on a podcast taping, or sporting a completely tinsel ensemble for a photo shoot, it's hard to bored as an intern at MTV News.

A typical day starts with the editorial staff meeting at 9:30. I sit at the table and listen as different writers update us on what the big stories are for their sections today. With sections like music, movies, TV, style, politics, and celebrity, there's always a lot going on and a lot to be caught up on from the night before.

My desk at MTV News!

After the meeting, I'll head over to my desk and see if I've been emailed any assignments. Usually, there will be an audio file of an interview waiting for me in my inbox. My task is to transcribe the interview and send it back so the writer will have a written account to pull quotes from for her story. The interviews range in length and content -- the longest one I've transcribed was 54 minutes and took me the ENTIRE work day. However, that's definitely on the longer side because they're typically around 20-30 minutes.

One of my favorites was getting to hear one of the writers interview the two directors of the Amanda Knox documentary. I got a ton of behind the scenes information on what their process was like making the documentary -- a lot of which didn't even end up in the article. So naturally, as soon as the documentary was released on Netflix, I grabbed a blanket, some tea, and watched in awe. Knowing some of the details from the directors prior to watching definitely made the experience more interesting because I knew to pay special attention to certain things.

That's me on the left as a "Tinsel Mammal".

Other than daily office tasks, sometimes I get to assist with non-written projects. The silliest and coolest of which was a photo shoot and interview with musician Helado Negro. My boss emailed me the day before and asked if I would be interested in helping out with a photo shoot the next day from 10-12. It sounded like a great opportunity, so naturally I responded with an enthusiastic yes. Later that day, the producer for the shoot emailed me with details about the project. She said that I would be wearing a tinsel suit and be posing in the background of various photographs.

A truly bizarre yet wonderful experience that
ended up with me looking like this.

This definitely wasn't what I anticipated when I was asked to "help out with a shoot." Regardless, I went into it with an open mind and a smile on my face. The crew for the shoot was super nice and was thrilled that I had volunteered to be one of the Tinsel Mammals. The musician was also incredibly kind and was so grateful that I was part of his creative journey. He also snapped the killer photo of me in the suit.

I think it's safe to say that even if I only end up fact checking and transcribing interviews for the rest of the semester, I already have more than enough stories and experiences to talk about from my first few weeks.