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Doreen
Rokhsar
Intern in Action, October 2003
Intern
for Planned Television Arts
 When
she did her college search, Barnard junior Doreen Rokhsar
was drawn to Barnard for several reasons: she was impressed
by its strong liberal arts offerings, she wanted to be in
New York City, and she also relished the "the opportunity
to have internships year-round." An Urban Studies major
from Staten Island, Rokhsar stuck to her year-round plan,
interning in the Planned Television Arts division of Ruder
Finn Public Relations for almost 20 months. Her supervisors
were so pleased with her work that, at the end of each semester,
they asked her to stay.
"I kept going because I loved it," Rokhsar says,
adding that she enjoyed the increased hands-on responsibilities
that came with her continued internship.
Rokhsar started at Planned Television Arts, which specializes
in book publicity, in January of 2002, after finding the position
on the Office of Career Development Web site. Focusing on
the radio component, she helped publicists book Morning Drive
Radio Tours, in which authors do a series of 20 10-minute
phone interviews with stations across the country in one day
from their homes. She worked with the publicists to develop
pitches to be presented to the various radio producers, requiring
a knowledge of not only the author’s project, but also
the station formats and inclinations. With the help of the
Jane Rosenzweig Jelenko ’70 Internship Grant, Rokhsar
was able to continue working on the radio tours in the summer
of 2002.
Over the next year, Rokhsar learned more about the business,
developed relationships with producers, and created media
lists. Ultimately, she organized two entire tours on her own,
from developing pitch ideas to researching the markets to
contacting the producers.
"It was my first internship at a firm, so it clued me
into what PR firms are about, the kinds of skills that you
need," Rokhsar says.
She considers the extended duration of her internship time
well spent. "Although this is only one type of PR, I
learned a great deal. The publicists came from so many different
places, it gave me a great opportunity to talk to people who
had been in the industry for many years."
Rokhsar left PTA in August 2003, opting to explore other aspects
of marketing and public relations. She has recently started
another internship for 77WABC News Talk Radio, assisting the
Promotions/Marketing/Special Events Director. In the new position,
she assists with event planning, writes press releases and
has written live promos for talk show hosts. She seems to
love this new position too, which makes choosing a definite
career path difficult.
"I am exploring careers in the communications field,
but also am keeping an open mind to look into other fields,"
she says. "I am learning a great deal by interning; it
will definitely help me plan for the future."
Click
here to see past Interns
in Action.
If
you would like to be featured as the Barnard Intern in Action
please send an email to Cara Smith, Internship Program Coordinator,
at csmith@barnard.edu.
Indicate where you are interning, what you are doing, and
why you would like to be considered.
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