Meredith Perri
COM’14 | Journalism
Digital Media and MetsBlog Intern
Meredith Perri was a digital media and MetsBlog intern at SportsNet New York. After having tweeted to the blog’s founder, Meredith emailed her resume and cover letter and then became SNY’s first intern. Meredith was able to travel to New York City a few times a week to help writers and even attend some games.
CCD: You had a unique way of getting your internship. Tell us about it.
Meredith: As a freshman, I took the course, Intro to the World of Communication. For one of my assignments I had to write about a field I was interested in entering and what technological changes were happening in that field. As someone hoping to enter sports journalism, I thought it was important to mention the influence of blogs. I grew up in New York watching the Mets, and I had read MetsBlog in the past, so I decided to include that site as an example of change. After finishing my essay I tweeted at the site’s founder, Matt Cerrone, to tell him I had written about MetsBlog for class. He responded to my tweet by giving me his email so that he could read the essay. I kept the email, and a year later when I was looking for an internship as a sophomore, I sent him my resume and cover letter. Matt had never had an intern before, but he thought it would be a great idea to bring me on to work for the company.
CCD: Tell us about your experience at SportsNet New York.
Meredith: As an intern at SportsNet New York (SNY), I had a myriad of responsibilities. Two or three times a week, I would travel to New York City. There I helped editors from the SNY Blog Network transition from WordPress to WordPress VIP, assisted in creating a database of Mets players that writers from the blog could go to for information, and aided in a Blog Network redesign. I also covered the Mets for MetsBlog. I wrote briefs about news that had just come out as well as game recaps. I also attended a few games and interviewed several of the players.
CCD: What was the best part of your internship?
Meredith: As someone who has wanted to become a sportswriter since the sixth grade, having the opportunity to talk to professional athletes, take part in conference calls, and write things that people actually read was amazing. I don’t think I ever could have imagined having that opportunity at such a young age.
CCD: What about the worst?
Meredith: The worst thing would have to be getting that taste of the life I want to live for such a short period of time. But, if anything, having gone through my internship with SNY has made me even more determined to get back to covering baseball after I graduate.
CCD: What is one thing that you that you learned that will be most beneficial in your future?
Meredith: Working in this industry takes a lot of hours, but in the end it’s all worth it. You are someone’s go-to source for information, and learning all of that information as well as keeping up with developing stories takes a lot of time.
CCD: How has this internship changed your plans after college?
Meredith: It only solidified them. I already knew that I wanted to become a beat reporter covering a professional baseball team, and now I am working more than ever to secure that goal.
CCD: What are the top three takeaways from your internship?
Meredith: I learned how to have a thicker skin, be more confident, and write content at a much quicker pace. Writing for a site that gets roughly four million views per month can be intimidating, and there will always be someone who doesn’t like your work, but you need to brush off the comments and just write what you know.
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