Who am I?
My name is Shannon McNamara. I am in my third year at Wayne State University majoring in journalism and minoring in both communication studies and public relations. I have had many different exposures to the field of journalism since I started my education at Wayne State University in 2014. I have written articles for WSU's student-run newspaper, The South End, and I am currently working as a technical writer for DTE Energy in Detroit, Michigan.
I am also the vice president of fundraising for WSU's Public Relations Students Society of America (PRSSA) where I have learned a great deal about the field of public relations, which also having the opportunity to learn exceptional and applicable professional development skills.
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Upon graduation in May 2018, I plan to further my education in the field of publishing in order to hone in the skills necessary to be successful in the magazine industry.
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Professional Experience:
After declaring my journalism major, I realized experience was necessary in order to define the journalists avenue I wanted go on. I knew internships would give me the tools I needed in order to fully understand and decide what profession of journalism I wanted to work in once I graduated.
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My first internship was at a local news channel in Lansing, Michigan where I learned a great deal about the importance, and struggle of local media. I was able to learn about camera operations, editing techniques and more importantly I learned to develop a great skill of talking to people on a professional platform. Even though I learned many new skills and developed many connections, I did not feel that broadcast journalism field was more me.
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My next internship was at Hour Media, a metro-Detroit based pushing company that exclusively published more that 30 titles. As the editorial intern, I was expected to develop the skill of copy editing various magazines before they went to print. Even though the magazine's deadlines were not as pressing as a newspaper would be, the pressure of printing errorless publications was greater. I loved the intensity of looking for errors in a story, and more importantly I loved the feeling of finding an error. I knew that publishing was the field I wanted to invest my education in.
Currently, I am employed at DTE Energy, a Detroit utility company that serves many parts of North America. As a technical writer, I have learned a unique set of skills that I believe will help me with my future in the media industry. First, I deal directly with lineman and
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My first internship was at a local news channel in Lansing, Michigan where I learned a great deal about the importance, and struggle of local media. I was able to learn about camera operations, editing techniques and more importantly I learned to develop a great skill of talking to people on a professional platform. Even though I learned many new skills and developed many connections, I did not feel that broadcast journalism field was more me.
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