Michelle Stangler joined Midwest Farm Report (Madison, Wisconsin) through the 2021 NAFB Internship Grant Program.
“While going into my first year of college at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls during a pandemic was challenging, I was optimistic for in-person opportunities,” Stangler said. “While looking for something to do was difficult in fall 2020 with COVID-19 guidelines, I bumped into the WRFW Radio Club while starting my own radio show, ‘Share the Positivity.’ When planning for summer, I knew it was a great opportunity to join the Midwest Farm Report Team as a farm assistant and intern interviewing and creating content sharing the positive story of agriculture.”
“The first few weeks have been rewarding and challenging at the same time,” she added. “I have learned the importance of communicating and telling it how it is. After writing several English papers in college, I realized that I need to be more direct when writing news articles to make it as entertaining and informational as possible. On the other side, I try to become more conversational through interviews and have tried to balance between the two. Throughout the first few weeks, I have interviewed a wide range of people within the different sectors of agriculture. I interviewed agriculturalists from Community Supported Agriculture, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and University of Wisconsin Extension.
“Another highlight to my internship is knowing the work I am doing is making a difference outside of the agricultural community. I can connect it to farmers and citizens who don’t know as much about agriculture and want to learn more through listening to our network stations. Not only do I appreciate who I am sharing the message with, but the supportive team that helps me when needed at the office. I appreciate how I can be trusted to generate content by reaching out to people personally and with the flexibility of creating unique stories. This internship has made me realize this is a setting that I want to continue to be a part of.”
