Intern learns a little

about a big community

With my internship wrapping up, I attended a reception for the internship program that brought me to McMinnville - the Snowden program, administered through the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication. I was asked to give a (very) short speech thanking those who contribute to the program and to talk (briefly) about my experience.

I thanked Mrs. Snowden - who, I found, prefers to be called Julie - and I thanked everyone who attended the reception. I didn't get a chance to thank the readers, though.

Does that sound a little cheesy? Yes, yes it does.

But then again, the readers are also the sources for the stories of this paper. The readers are the people who contribute story ideas, the people at the helm of the local government and the people changing lives.

My work at the McMinnville News-Register gave me my first taste of true community journalism, and I have to say, I enjoyed it immensely.

One of my first assignments brought me to the office of the chief lending officer at First Federal downtown. Another story took me to the nearby community of Hopewell.

Our stories are local. They focus on issues here in Yamhill County that affect local readers.

I learned co-workers can be great resources. My editor means well, usually anyway, when he tells me things I find frightening. Co-workers are like life-preservers.

So are readers. I never get tired of compliments from those who have read my stories.

I have learned to value all of those around me - co-workers, community members, sources and officials - in a way that I hadn't gotten the opportunity to before.

The News-Register has built relationships with sources that I was afraid to trample on. The trust granted to me was immense.

In an early Letter to Readers, I had vowed to find out exactly when the Carlton Swimming Pool was built. It was on Aug. 22 that I contacted the executive director of the Yamhill County Historical Society and Museum for another story and got the pool information as a byproduct.

Executive Director Katherine Huit solved the mystery for me. Construction began on the pool in the spring of 1935.

I hope I have honored the trust that was supplied to me in spades by the staff of the News-Register. We can only hope, as a news source for this community, that we can uphold our promises.

Thank you, readers, for this opportunity. And thank you to the staff of the News-Register for welcoming me.

Lauren L. Dillard

Reporting Intern

503-472-5114, Ext. 229

ldillard@newsregister.com