Bethany Lorden | Summer Internship - The Spectator World (Washington, DC)

I interned this summer at The Spectator World, the US branch of the world's oldest magazine. The afternoon that I arrived in DC, I was greeted by the presidential speeches, Bradley tanks, and fireworks of the military parade marking the army's 200th anniversary. My work sent me to congressional hearings and think tank panels, to political conferences and Capitol Hill mixers. At such events, I learned how DC politics work, and presumably have always worked: happy-hour talk becomes party consensus, consensus generates policy, and policy surfaces, sometimes, into history textbooks, or quietly accrues into the ponderous government bureaucracy underlying our capitol city. 

In addition to teaching me about our national politics, this summer opened my understanding of journalism, that writing of the first draft of history. Journalism can be as hasty as the government is slow – which is, admittedly, much preferable to the reverse. I read the news now with a grain of salt, knowing exactly how little some interns know, and also how knowledgeable some writers are who have lived and breathed politics since before I was born. 

This summer taught me to write more clearly, to research more carefully, and to choose topics about which I care deeply. I was given the freedom to write about everything from generational divides to a photography exhibit. I loved immersing myself for a day into the history of timber removal in National Forest land, or learning about the outcomes of various educational initiatives in Chicago. 

While the news cycle helped me to write more swiftly, I believe I am called to put time, thoughtfulness, and wisdom into my words. Whether that writing occurs in a journalism career, in the classroom, or in a journal over a quiet morning coffee, it will be of higher quality and clearer thought for a summer spent at The Spectator World.