UNL Student To Intern With Pitzer Digital Newspapers

As one of the most sought after interns from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Brian Beach had plenty of offers for internships this summer.

But he wanted to work with a specific newspaper —  the Antelope County News, which means he'll also be spending time in Stanton this summer.

“As I was looking for newspaper internships for the summer, my journalism professor at UNL recommended that I get in touch with Carrie Pitzer at the Antelope County News. I ended up with several internship opportunities, but I chose to work for the Pitzer Digital papers because of their professionalism,” he said. “Awards are not everything, but I was especially impressed with the newspaper’s record of ‘Best Weekly Paper’ awards from the Nebraska Press Association.”

Beach is a junior at UNL and majoring in journalism. He is also a varsity cross country and track athlete for the Huskers.

Beach said he’s excited to  experience living in a small town for the summer. He’s staying in Neligh and will write for the three Pitzer Digital newspapers — Antelope, Knox and Stanton.

“Most newspaper jobs available for recent graduates are in smaller communities, but being from the Kansas City area, I do not have any experience living in small towns,” he said. 

​In just his first couple of days, Beach already has been introduced to rural America. He had the opportunity to climb a grain bin on Monday while working on his first agriculture story. 

Beach said he’s enjoying the small-town life. 

“One of the biggest differences I have noticed is that here in Antelope County, everybody knows everybody in town. Even the UPS delivery guy recognized me as the new guy at Pitzer Digital, something that would never happen in my home metropolitan area of 2 million people,” he said. 

​Beach will spend 11 weeks at the ACN, covering a variety of story types, including hard news, features and sports. He’ll also have a hand in page design and social media.

​"I am hoping to gain some experience in just about every part of the newspaper business from page layout to interview skills — something that would be much harder to get at a big city daily newspaper,” he said. “I would really like to improve my photography and social media skills, which will be increasingly important in journalism's digital age.”