{"id":38858,"date":"2025-07-31T15:13:54","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T19:13:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/?p=38858"},"modified":"2025-07-31T15:13:54","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T19:13:54","slug":"fox-carolina-internship-puts-student-at-the-helm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/fox-carolina-internship-puts-student-at-the-helm\/","title":{"rendered":"FOX Carolina internship puts student at the helm"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cTwo minutes to air.\u201d \u00a0Furman University student Sidney Lyn \u201926 is in her element in the production room at TV news station FOX Carolina<\/a>. She\u2019s a rising senior, but her internship has already helped her find her stride as a television news producer.<\/p>\n

Originally from Athens, Georgia, Lyn said Furman Media Specialist and Instructor Mary Sturgill helped her find a golden opportunity in Greenville\u2019s top-40 media market. Lyn originally wanted to major in sociology but switched to communication studies for the creative freedom to tell stories about people and how they interact with their communities. She enjoyed working behind the fast-paced, often hectic scenes, helping coordinate and organize breaking news stories for a live newscast.<\/p>\n

\"A

Sidney Lyn \u201926 said she\u2019s enjoyed producing news programs during her internship at Gray Media\u2019s FOX Carolina in Greenville, South Carolina. Photo by Owen Withycombe, Furman University.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI knew I wanted to do an internship this summer, but I didn\u2019t know what exactly,\u201d Lyn said. Strugill sat down with her \u201cand found my perfect fit, she knew I enjoyed producing in her broadcasting class.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lyn is among the hundreds of Furman students taking advantage of an internship this summer, including 282 who were awarded summer internship fellowships around the country; 72% of Furman students complete at least one internship during their four years. Fellows receive funding and\/or reduced on-campus housing costs. Furman pays out more than $1.8 million annually in paid internship and research stipends. Some students, like Lyn, find their internships through faculty; many work through the internship office<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Internships offer students the opportunity to not only get practical experience, but they connect with professionals and build a network in their chosen field, Sturgill said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBroadcasting is a small industry and if students do well in their internships, they get hired in an extremely competitive field,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"A

Feeling at home in the production booth, Sidney Lyn \u201926 found she enjoyed producing a daily news show during her internship at Gray Media\u2019s FOX Carolina. Photo by Owen Withycombe, Furman University.<\/p><\/div>\n

FOX Carolina Executive Producer Jordan McGowen said having an intern in the office brings fresh perspectives to the newsroom, while the news team gets to give Lyn a taste of what it\u2019s like to make the news every day.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople don\u2019t always understand what news production is until they see it in action,\u201d McGowen said. \u201cBecause Sidney is such a fast learner, we quickly moved her up to producing half a show herself.\u201d<\/p>\n

In each day\u2019s editorial meeting she helps the news team figure out each block of stories, pick their orders and airtimes. McGowen said she and Lyn bounce ideas off one another as they script the news program and create graphics for the broadcast.<\/p>\n

Her first time at the production desk during a live broadcast was nerve-wracking. She had to communicate with reporters, directors and other producers while giving the cue for graphics and helping keep the show on schedule.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the first day producing a news block, I called my mom and told her to download the app, it\u2019ll be on after this commercial break,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The staff at FOX Carolina extended an offer to have Lyn continue her work as an intern through the 2025-2026 academic year, and she said she\u2019s grateful for the opportunity and the guidance that got her there.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if I\u2019d be here at FOX if not for professor Sturgill,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Communication Studies major Sidney Lyn \u201926 interns as a producer with Gray Media.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":401,"featured_media":38841,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[51,2711,58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-communication-studies","category-engaged-learning","category-internships"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/401"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38858"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38858\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39436,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38858\/revisions\/39436"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}