Justin Ward, a junior media studies major from Christiansburg, has landed an amazing internship with CBS Evening News this summer.
Last year, Ward had decided to spend his spring break in Washington, D.C., and hoped to find a job shadowing program at one of the national news agencies for the duration of his trip. He called NBC, ABC, CNN and FOX, but none offered anything that provided the opportunity he had in mind. Just as he was about to give up, he called CBS with the same question, and the secretary forwarded his call to a senior producer of the CBS Evening News.
Ward recalled, “He said he had never received a call like mine and would love to help me out.” During the conversation, they set up a two-day job shadowing opportunity while Ward was in the area.
While shadowing, he met with several correspondents, including Bob Schieffer, and went on a complete tour of Capitol Hill with access to areas only journalists are allowed to go. “It was like a dream, and I soaked up every second of it,” Ward said. At the end of his shadowing, they offered him an internship for this summer.
Coming out of his shadowing experience, Ward said, “Doing the shadowing for just those two days has affected my career and journalistic choices. I am now more serious about becoming a journalist, and people around here have noticed.” The contacts that Ward made during his shadowing experience even helped him obtain a recent internship with WSLS 10 in Roanoke.
During his time at RU, Ward said, “I have become a new person. I have grown as a journalist and as a student. I have also learned that professors can be your best critic, which has improved me in every aspect of my life.”
Ward currently serves as the news editor for the student newspaper, The Tartan, and has been a radio announcer at WVRU 89.9 for three years. Ward also created his own bluegrass show called “Bluegrass Extensions”. He is on daily with the Community Calendar and on Friday mornings, he plays jazz on the “Jazz Café”.
Ward is also a member of Omicron Delta Kappa, the honors and leadership fraternity, and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars. During his free time, he is a drummer for Chi Alpha Campus Ministries worship band and a webmaster for the Radford University Ambassadors. Ward has also received several scholarships including, Ola S. Bowling Scholarship, WVRU Mattingly Scholarship and Faith Christian Church of Christ Scholarship.
As Ward anticipates his future, he hopes to become an even better writer, broadcaster, and person as he explores the world of national broadcast journalism.
