Front Row’s Intern Chronicles series showcases ESPN’s summer interns. For more information on ESPN Internships, visit the ESPN Careers site.
Kathy Breen is an ESPN Social Media Production intern from Irvington, N.Y. She’s also a grad student pursuing a degree in multimedia journalism from Emerson College. Breen completed her undergraduate degree at Boston College in 2012.
Here’s what she had to tell us about her journey at ESPN so far:
What attracted you to the ESPN internship program?
I grew up loving sports and now, in grad school, I’m studying multimedia journalism. On a whim, I went online searching for a summer internship between my two years of grad school. I’m very interested in social media, journalism and marketing. I applied online, got through a few rounds of interviews, and here I am.
Most of the interns in ESPN’s 2014 summer internship class are undergraduate students. This year, there are six graduate students, including Kathy Breen, who are part of ESPN’s program:
Spencer Vaughn, Dartmouth – International
Brian Canever, University of Tennessee – Stats and Information (Bilingual)
Andrew Pickens, Michigan State University – Sourcing and Procurement Team for Media Networks
Alexandra Tomlinson, University of Pennsylvania – espnW
Eduardo Gonzalez, University of Missouri – International Production
Eduardo Gonzalez, University of Missouri – International Production
Jubril Ogunbunmi, North Carolina A&T State University
What is your day-to-day schedule like with the Social Media group?
On a daily basis, I work specifically with social media for SportsCenter. All tasks vary from day-to-day. I make the planners, the hand-offs – which are summaries of what’s happened socially in the beginning of the day so the night crew knows –
and the overview of what’s going on throughout the day. Then there are the special projects. For example, we filmed something with [MMA fighter] Chris Weidman when he was here for the [ESPN] YouTube page. There’s a lot of creative thought that goes into it, so I’m glad I have that multimedia journalism experience.
What has been your favorite part thus far?
Just being here at ESPN. To see the SportsCenter anchors who I grew up watching, walking in the newsroom near me or working on a project with Linda Cohn [the ESPN YouTube video above] — it’s an unbelievable experience to be on this campus. Every single day I come and I just think this is amazing that I’m working at ESPN.
What’s your previous internship experience been like?
I worked at a non-profit sports organization where they would give students in low-income areas equipment to use. That experience got me even more interested in working in sports media. I have also worked at a production company and spent time with the Boston Herald as an editorial assistant. I came in with a ton of writing and reporting experience, which was really helpful in landing this position.
(Nida Chaudhry/ESPN)
