Despite all of the challenges that come with balancing life as a college student, Reynolds School of Journalism undergrad Jaedyn Young has taken it all in stride.
It was natural fit for Young when she was hired as an intern at Double Scoop, a nonprofit news outlet covering visual arts in Nevada founded by Kris Vagner, an alumna of the Reynolds School’s graduate program.
Building on her experience as the arts & entertainment editor at the Nevada Sagebrush, Young dove straight into developing storylines, interviewing artists, writing profiles, and drafting social media content for the publication.
“I wanted to go deeper into the arts, and learn how to report better on the arts with an actual organization where I could learn and grow,” said Young. But, beyond improving her reporting and writing skills, Young found herself learning a new journalistic concept: how to meet the moment.
On assignment to cover a new exhibition in Virginia City, Young interviewed Paula Saponaro, a mixed-media artist who had recently come out of retirement following the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade. During their discussion about Saponaro’s exhibition “Redux,” the pair discussed the emotional effect that comes with creating art based on lived experiences, and Saparono’s experience as a young mother in the early 70’s when Roe v. Wade was first decided.
“Being able to write that and portray her story like that, I think that was one of the best profiles I’ve ever written and one of the best experiences I’ve ever had in journalism,” Young said. “It’s a reminder for me—this is why I do this; I want to hear peoples’ stories and be able to write about them."
For Young in her role as a student journalist, living—and reporting—through a historical event like the overturning of Roe v. Wade means looking at it through a different lens and challenging herself to meet the moment in her work. “I went to the protests to cover them for another news organization,” said Young. “I thought, this is a really powerful thing, we’re going to start seeing a lot of different things like visual arts and exhibitions.”
While balancing her coursework on top of serving as the arts and entertainment editor for the Nevada Sagebrush and interning at Double Scoop, Young still finds the space to appreciate the benefit of working in a professional newsroom environment as a student.
“I hope that everybody that gets a chance to do an internship does, because [my mentor] has taught me so much and I have learned so much from doing an internship and being hands-on,” Young said. “Being in an internship is one of the biggest lessons and opportunities that you can have as a journalism student.”
Read Jaedyn Young’s story on Paula Saponaro’s exhibition “Redux,” online in .
