Defining a Public Relations Internship through Feedback from the Field

Practitioners and professors agree that successful entry into the public relations job market necessitates at least one field-related internship; most entry-level public relations practitioners credit their jobs to positive internship experiences (Redeker, 1992). Such internships, to result in job placement, most likely were treated as experiences with significant work assigned to the intern. According to the Federal Labor Standards, the difference between interns and regular employees is one of definition and qualifications. For the intern, the "training is similar to that given in a vocational school or college." In essence, then, the "trainee" is treated as a "student" (U.S. Department of Labor, 1980). With attention given to both site and academic internship supervisors' perspectives, this case study explores the kinds of training public relations internships can offer based on an analysis of intern participants' observations. The academic view of internships has been actively debated with issues ranging from whether the internship should receive academic credit to whether the site should also pay the student (Fulmer, 1993). While the debate pertaining to various issues does continue, a common tenet emerges from all concerned: "By helping arrange internships that contribute positively to learning, academic supervisors can guide students toward experiences that reinforce their education and facilitate entry into their chosen fields" (Basow & Byrne, 1993, p. 48). While the intern is viewed as a student, intern supervisors still expect certain minimal qualifications of the public relations student: an understanding of the field, its key concepts, and basic technological skills, especially writing. One practitioner (Brightman, 1989, p. 29) wrote, "Your future Edward Bernays won't be seasoned enough to conduct media tours for new clients, but interns shouldn't be kept locked in an office creating media lists the whole time." The majority of the professionals who supervise internships recognize the importance of training as a vital element of the internship program. Recommendations for establishing and maintaining internship sites include considering: its structure, length and appropriate terms (fall, winter, summer); expectations and responsibilities; programs of study appropriate for site experiences; means to recruit and interview; supervisory and evaluative capabilities; and commitment to integrate the interns into the public relations management team. An emphasis on learning is evidenced in practitioner recommendations to conduct weekly intern meetings, professional development seminars, and mock interviews (Brightman, 1989; Farinelli & Mann, 1994). Successful management of an internship program requires academic internship supervisors to confront a multitude of tasks-from determining site integrity to balancing relations between various practitioners and alumni-while also meeting the needs of the students and the public relations internship program. To reduce ambiguity in meeting these various needs, a standard set of minimum expectations would be useful. Such a list could then help the academic supervisor determine whether a prospective site could meet internship expectations. Given the wide range of activities that are often labeled "public relations" in the work place, these minimal expectations are necessary to ensure that the internship site builds upon the academic foundation of public relations knowledge as experienced in the classroom. Given this variety of internship management considerations, this study set out to determine more precisely what interns do, based on a long-time, senior-level internship program; whether intern tasks reflect training components; and, how does an internship experience compare with classroom experience. The following sections outline the research case setting and the methods use to determine more specifically the kinds of tasks students can expect from an internship as recorded by student interns themselves. …