Internship Spotlight - Mike Sackley

	From:	Eagle River, AK
	Major:	English
	Company:	Post Register
	Location:	Post Register

I was shown a binder full of published articles from Post Register. Some were front page material, while others competed with neighboring articles on subjects like Hilary Clinton's stance on Mormons. Some filled the page, and others only a column. But one thing they all had in common was their author, Mike Sackley.

"When I talked to the editor about the job, she asked 'Can you write for a newspaper?' I said, 'Pshhh, watch me.'" And they did. Mike wrote about 3-4 stories a week while interning with Post Register, and after hearing some of his leads, it was clear why.

"Sometimes it's not the easiest thing to pull off," Mike says, "but the editorial staff is really good at helping young, developing writers." Mike wrote pieces based on news his editor suggested, but usually went out and found stories on his own.

His work was very independent as a reporter, and different from most jobs. "It was strange sometimes to be up at night writing while nearly everyone else was sleeping," Mike said.

While covering his beat, Mike quickly learned that the secret to any good story is working hard to get it. "Some journalists think that the stories will just come to them; the bottom line with journalism is that some people get really lazy," he said.

Mike would zip around town on his bike to find stories, and his persistence paid off. Mike believes, "If you want to do it right, you've got to dig deep." But at the same time he has to be aware of his deadlines. "When I started, I had to leave myself a lot of time to research, write, and revise a piece. By the end of my internship, deadlines weren't that big a deal," he said. Mike's record time for finding, interviewing for, and writing a story is one hour.

With all the researching Mike did for his stories on a wide variety of subjects, he learned a lot. "I feel like a pro in so many fields!" he said. "The more you know about a subject, the better you can write on it," he added.

Mike's biggest challenge was dealing with uncooperative people. "It's tough to get people to drop their bureaucratic sadism," he said. Trying to get an interview with a key figure in his story, Mike would get the same rap time after time telling him they couldn't meet with him then. "I'd just tell them I had a deadline and needed to talk with the person right then-it usually was enough to get what I needed."

Mike says that working with Post Register is a possibility for the future, but ideally wants to write for a magazine rather than a newspaper. He also wants to pursue a master's degree so he can take writing and editing to the next level. "I made journalism writing a science, and I'm having a good time with it."