Meet The Arizona Republic's summer 2023 interns
The Arizona Republic continues its summer tradition of hosting undergraduate and graduate students from across the country to nurture the next generation of journalists.
The 23 students joining the Phoenix newsroom this summer are Pulliam Fellows, Dow Jones News Fund interns and returning interns from Arizona schools. Most of the posts are for 10 weeks and offer in-person newsroom experience at a professional level.
New this year, The Republic is hosting a bilingual internship in partnership with the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and the Pedro Gomez Foundation, which honors the late ESPN reporter who spent early years of his career at The Republic. The internship is an opportunity to boost coverage of and for Spanish-speaking Arizona residents. Gomez was a Cuban-American Major League Baseball writer and member of the Baseball Writers' Association of America who championed Hispanic MLB players throughout his career. The intern will report and write about community news and sports in English and Spanish for The Republic and for La Voz, The Republic's Spanish-language publication.
Separate groups of Pulliam Fellows work in newsrooms at The Republic and the Indianapolis Star each summer. They honor the legacy of the Pulliam family, which owned both papers before selling them to Gannett Co., Inc. The fellows are assigned to the news, features and sports desks, as well as the visuals, podcast, social and digital production teams.
Meet The Republic's Class of 2023
Megan Buffington, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Dow Jones News Fund intern
Buffington is a journalism student from Pequot Lakes, Minn. During an internship at Nebraska Public Media, she reported a feature story on the Hastings, Neb., Superfund site. Before she graduates in December, Buffington will finish her senior reporting project on sustainable agriculture in Nebraska. She will also be project manager for The Daily Nebraskan, UNL's student publication. She hopes to return to northern Minnesota and freelance data and feature stories related to the environment, politics and history.
Yamileth Cabrera, Arizona State University, La Voz intern
Cabrera is pursuing a degree in journalism and mass communication, with a focus on social media and content creation. She helps manage social production for La Voz, creating story cards, newsreels and social content for bilingual audiences. Having previously worked at The State Press, ASU's student-run newspaper, Yamileth is also proficient in copy editing and translating articles into Spanish.
Abigail Celeya, Northern Arizona University, breaking news intern
Celeya is a junior pursuing a degree in journalism with a minor in psychology, In Flagstaff, she is part of the honors program. In her free time, she enjoys writing and has self-published four books, including poetry and fantasy romance. She has a beta fish named Vision and an English bulldog Fitz, named after the legendary Arizona Cardinal Larry Fitzgerald.
Fernando Cervantes, Tufts University, Pulliam Fellow
Cervantes is a rising senior majoring in film and media studies. He grew up in Dallas and is passionate about soccer and news. Cervantes previously interned at the Dallas Morning News, WGBH Boston and Boston.com. When not following his journalism passion, Cervantes enjoys going out on runs and watching soccer. He is looking forward to hiking up and down the Valley and experiencing an Arizona summer.
Diannie Chavez, Arizona State University, Pulliam Fellow
Chavez is a bilingual, multimedia journalist and recent graduate, majoring in journalism and mass communication with a minor in criminology. As an undergraduate, Chavez interned as a photographer for PHOENIX Magazine. She also worked in the Cronkite News Washington, D.C., newsroom. Last summer, Chavez completed a fellowship with News21, a national investigative reporting initiative, where she was able to tell the stories of community members impacted by policing and police reform.
Joshua Edler Davis, Grambling State University, Pulliam Fellow
Edler Davis is a senior majoring in mass communication, with an emphasis on broadcast journalism. He is a San Diego native who is passionate about sports and giving back to those less fortunate. At Grambling, Edler Davis is involved in student government, leads his student newspaper and is an escort for the royal court. He is looking forward to covering the Diamondbacks and exploring Arizona this summer.
Allie Feinberg, University of Missouri, Pulliam Fellow
Feinberg is a recent graduate and was a staff writer for the Columbia Missourian, covering city, county and state government. She grew up in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., and hopes to eventually return to the nation’s capital. She is passionate about covering elections and is looking forward to exploring Arizona.
Kye Graves, Scottsdale Community College, breaking news intern
Graves is a lifelong Arizona sports fan and supports the Phoenix Suns, Phoenix Mercury, Arizona Diamondbacks and Arizona Cardinals. He is pursuing a journalism degree with the intention of transferring to ASU at some point. He previously wanted to become a sports reporter, but he has found a new passion for covering politics and local beats.
Olivia Grace Afia Gyapong, University of Missouri, Pulliam Fellow
Gyapong is a rising junior, double majoring in journalism and political science and minoring in constitutional democracy. She is from Silver Spring, Md., and plans to return there to pursue a law degree and a career as a policy reporter after earning her bachelor’s.
Jodicee Arianna Harris, Mesa Community College, community relations/events intern
Harris is a recent graduate who majored in journalism and new media studies and was a breaking news intern at The Republic in summer 2022. In the fall, she expects to continue her academic career at a university where she wants to pursue multimedia journalism and sports journalism. Jodicee hopes the internship will help her become a more seasoned writer and teach her more about the art of storytelling.
Dina Kaur, Michigan State University, Pulliam Fellow
Kaur is a recent graduate, majoring in journalism and public relations. She grew up in Boston and is passionate about covering underrepresented voices and unique stories through her work. Kaur has worked as a news intern for The Patriot Ledger and a news/features intern for the Cape Cod Times. At MSU, she was managing editor of The State News, a part of the Honors College and the social media chair for Sigma Delta Tau.
Serena Lin, Yale University, Pulliam Fellow
Lin is a recent graduate, majoring in English literature with a concentration in nonfiction writing. Her capstone project explored the intersection of mental illness and criminal culpability. She is from Philadelphia, where she is a long-suffering sports fan.
Eli McKown, Michigan State University, Pulliam Fellow
McKown is a recent graduate majoring in journalism, with a minor in public relations. He grew up on a cattle farm in Clayton, Mich., where he helped plant and harvest corn, soybeans and wheat. McKown worked for The State News as a reporter and editor, covering Michigan State athletics. He spent a year interning with the Grand Rapids Griffins, the AHL affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings, and freelancing for the Detroit Free Press.
Sivan Plotkin, Arizona State University, social media intern
Plotkin is from Long Island, N.Y., and is a student at ASU's Cronkite School of Journalism, graduating with a B.A. in journalism and mass communication in the fall. She is involved with Hillel at ASU and is president of her sorority, Alpha Epsilon Phi. As a member of the social team, she creates graphics and video content for The Republic’s social accounts.
Madeline Rosenberg, Cornell University, Pulliam Fellow
Rosenberg is a recent graduate, majoring in history and American studies, with a concentration in race and policy. She was the managing editor of her college newspaper, The Cornell Daily Sun, and interned at the national politics and policy magazine The American Prospect. She's also reported for news outlets in Ithaca, N.Y., and in her hometown outside of New York City. Rosenberg spent her senior year writing a history of Better Homes in America, an early 20th century U.S. single-family housing campaign, for her history honors thesis.
Helen Rummel, University of Indiana, Pulliam Fellow
Rummel is a recent graduate, studying journalism with a concentration in news writing and editing, with a minor in Spanish. She was editor in chief of the Indiana Daily Student and previously served as a managing editor and enterprise editor for the publication. Last summer, Rummel interned for Chalkbeat Indiana. She has been recognized by the Indiana chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists for her work in breaking news. Rummel is originally from the Indianapolis area, where she just attended her eighth Indy 500.
Elena Santa Cruz, Arizona State University, city and community news intern
Santa Cruz is an Arizona native who received her bachelor's degree in criminal justice in 2021, but pivoted to journalism shortly after. In December 2022, she completed her master's degree in investigative journalism. At ASU, she worked with a global news organization on a national investigation during her capstone in the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism program.
April Santana, Syracuse University, Pedro Gomez Foundation intern
Santana is a rising senior at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, where she majors in political science as well as magazine, news and digital journalism. At Syracuse, the New Jersey native has been involved in multiple reporting projects with NewsHouse and served as a staff writer with the local community newspaper The South Side Stand. Santana is a member of the campus chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.
Jasper Smith, Howard University, Dow Jones News Fund intern
Smith is a senior journalism major, sociology minor, from Phoenix. She was editor in chief of The Hilltop, the nation’s oldest Black collegiate newspaper, and will resume the position next school year. Jasper has covered enrollment trends, campus threats, student financial aid concerns and people experiencing homelessness in D.C. Jasper has written for Open Campus Media, covering higher education, and Street Sense Media, where she learned accountability reporting.
Logan Stanley, Arizona State University, podcast intern
Stanley is a sports journalism graduate student targeting a December graduation. He has four years of experience as a freelance journalist in Northern California and worked for the past year as the state editor of MileSplit Arizona, covering high school cross-country and track and field. He attended Eastern Washington University for his undergraduate degree, where he received a bachelor's in journalism news editorial and a minor in history. In the future, he hopes to become an NFL beat writer and host his own weekly podcast.
Ellie Willard, Arizona State University, breaking news intern
Willard is a senior majoring in journalism and a minor in sustainability. She has interned on the photography team at PHOENIX Magazine and has worked as an editor at various ASU newspapers. She hopes to report further on sustainability and local community issues.
Aidan Wohl, University of Arizona, breaking news intern
Wohl is from Westchester County, N.Y., and is entering his senior year as a journalism and communication student. He has held internships covering sports with GOAZCATS.com, American Football International and UATV. He also reported for Tucson Weekly and worked in production for Arizona Public Media.
Isabella Zarate, University of Illinois, Pulliam Fellow
Zarate, a recent graduate, majored in journalism and specialized in global studies and English, while she worked as a freelance writer and a reporter for a university alumni magazine. Growing up in Bainbridge, Ind., Zarate spent much of her time outside chasing adventures.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Meet the summer 2023 Arizona Republic interns
