Krishnan Vasudevan is a multimedia intern at The New York Times. Vasudevan, a third semester graduate journalism student at New York University, will graduate in May 2010.

VS: How was your internship structured?

Vasudevan: “Before I came to the NYTimes Multimedia unit I had interned with the NYTimes video unit for 6 months. Our team has flash, audio, design, and video specialists. Initially a lot of my work was getting acquainted with the procedures, updating the multimedia wikipage, and assisting the team on pre and post production of shoots. However, within a couple weeks, the Iran election conflict and the passing of Michael Jackson happened, and I was quickly thrown in to the mix. On any given day, I was shooting video, editing audio, writing for the City Room blog, and/or assisting people on other teams with their multimedia teams. So in short, there was no day-to-day structure, but there was always a backlog things to do for the team, as well as a number of opportunities to be in the field.”

1969 – The New York Times (Produced by Krishnan Vasudevan, Julie Bloom, Jeremy Egner, Mary Hardiman, Jon Huang, Tom Jackson, Andrew Kuneman, Mekado Murphy/The New York Times)

VS: Who was your supervisor and describe your working relationship?

Vasudevan: “Andrew Devigal is my supervisor. Andrew and I have a great working relationship. As an intern he gave me a lot of responsibility but always made sure there wasn’t too much on my plate. I think the most important part of the relationship is the fact that he trusts and appreciates my work, which makes it an awesome working environment.”

VS: What helped you get the internship?

Vasudevan: “I think having already worked at the NYTimes for 6 months really helped my chances, because I had built a rapport with the video team. My professor, Jason Samuels, had alerted me about the video internship, and I’m eternally grateful to him for his guidance and help in getting an interview with the Times.”

Vows:  April and Gordon (Produced by Krishnan Vasudevan/The New York Times)

VS: Did you set a goal for the internship for yourself when you started?

Vasudevan: “Yes. The multimedia team facilitates audio, video, print, graphics, and/or an amalgamation of all of the above. I knew a little of each of those areas, and my goal was to become stronger in each. I had the privilege of working with the most innovative journalists in the field, and through each story I got great feedback, guidance, and the opportunity to see professionals who I could emulate. I have become a much better editor, videographer, and journalist through the experience.”

VS: What was expected of you that you did not expect?

Vasudevan: “Andrew did a great job of prepping me before the internship, and telling me what I was going to be doing. I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of freedom I was given to pitch stories, work with other departments, and go out to cover stories.”

VS: Who ended up teaching you the most?

Vasudevan: “I learned most from the fellow multimedia journalists sitting around my section. They were always readily available and accessible to answer my questions. Since we have a team of specialists, audio/video/flash/photo, depending on the project, I learned a different element of becoming a better multimedia journalist.”

Vows: Rusty and JoAnn (Produced by Krishnan Vasudevan and Rob Harris/The New York Times)

VS: What was the most important thing you learned?

Vasudevan: “I think the most important thing I learned was that I will learn the most and improve my skill set when pressed with an impending deadline. I sharpened my editing and graphics skills the most when I was hit with a short deadline. I’d immediately think “You know I really think this effect/technique would be cool here. Now to learn it.”

VS: What was the most difficult part of your internship?

Vasudevan: “I think the most difficult part is/was balancing my school work. I put myself 100% in to the internship as I have definitely learned so much more while on the job than in the class room. For that fact it has been difficult to summon the energy to complete my assignments at school. While on the job however, there have been times where I have been lost with a new program, such as After Effects or Apple Motion. Getting the basics of those programs can be extremely frustrating at first, and extremely difficult to understand the mindset that goes in to editing in those programs.”

VS: What was your favorite assignment and why?

Vasudevan: “I recently co-produced a piece about how the private equity firm Thomas H. Lee ran a large debt on the Simmons Mattress company. The print piece was written by a business reporter, Julie Creswell, and I worked with a group on the multimedia project called Flipped. I think what I liked the most was taking a dry subject like private equity, and using an eclectic array of visuals (interviews, motion graphics, archived footage) to put together a comprehensive, entertaining piece. The print reporters job was to make the print story compelling and our job was to take her well written story and give it life beyond the page. I think we pulled off an amazing feat and I hope to do more stories like that.”

VS: Describe your personal and professional growth (visual, multimedia, other) during the internship.

Vasudevan: “I have become a much better audio/photo/video editor through the course of this internship. It has afforded me the opportunity to professionally produce pieces. I feel like when I started I had a solid grasp of video editing, but after this experience I think I can effectively put together an engaging piece that incorporates stills, music, and graphics.”

VS: What will you do next?

Vasudevan: “My summer internship was extended for the fall. I’m hoping I can prove myself with another internship and hope to stay at the Times for the forseeable future. This place continues to change with the times and the people here understand how people’s news habits are changing and how to adapt to them effectively.”

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The New York Times offers 10-week summer internships to college seniors and graduate students who have decided on careers in journalism.

The visual journalism internship program, covering graphics, art design, page design and photography, is called the Thomas Morgan Internship.

The digital internship is at the headquarters building working with producers and editors at nytimes.com

Salary for both internships: About $900 a week. Housing is available on the New York University campus for about $850 monthly.

APPLICATION DEADLINES:
For the James Reston, Thomas Morgan and digital internships:  Feb. 1, 2010.

Applications should be sent to:
Nancy Sharkey, Senior Editor
The New York Times
620 Eighth Ave., New York, NY 10018
http://www.nytco.com/careers/internships.html