Spokesman-Review interns bring passion and find confidence to excel in summer jobs
Despite varying experiences, ambitions and inspirations, interns at The Spokesman-Review share one thing: They are thrown right into the job on Day 1.
“We treat our interns different from most organizations,” Editor Rob Curley said.
Indeed, visitors to the newsroom won’t see interns making coffee runs, writing filler content or otherwise taking care of the office’s “grunt work.” What they might see is an intern’s byline on the day’s front page.
This summer’s six interns include a crowd of new and returning faces, each of whom has learned to jump on story assignments and hit daily deadlines.
Mathew Callaghan
Born in Spokane and raised in Deer Park, Spokesman-Review intern Mathew Callaghan first dipped his toes into the world of journalism when he was 10 years old, interviewing senior residents in his mother’s mobile home park.
“I would do these, like, mock interviews with these older people in the retirement community,” he said. “And they loved it because they got to talk about their lives.”
Growing up, Callaghan said he had an active imagination, playing pretend in the woods around his house, reading books and writing stories.
“I always wrote stories, and I always loved writing just because it was like a way to change my reality and make it more interesting,” he said.
After graduating from Deer Park High School, Callaghan applied for a summer internship with The Spokesman-Review. He wrote his application on his phone after inspiration struck him while driving.
Three days later, he got a call to set up an interview.
“I just didn’t really expect it at all,” he said. “And then that first summer was just like everything that I hoped for.”
After summer, Callaghan went to Western Washington University to pursue a major in journalism. After graduating, he returned to The Spokesman-Review for another summer, where he enjoys writing fun and “out-there” feature stories.
“I think journalism is the best when it’s told through the lens of people who are actually living it rather than, like, politicians or mandates or whatever you want to say,” he said. “I guess more like a people’s first approach is better.”
- Cannon Barnett
Liam Bradford
Most aspiring sports broadcasters have a list of coaches and athletes they’d like to interview. Liam Bradford is no exception.
But at the age of 19, few have checks next to any names; there, Bradford is the exception.
He asked questions of Paige Bueckers, the former University of Connecticut star and current Dallas Wings guard, with her renowned UConn coach Geno Auriemma, during a March Madness news conference in Spokane.
“That’s one of the greatest women’s basketball players in the world,” Bradford said. To him, Auriemma is “arguably the greatest coach in the history of sports.”
He felt out of place, but upon reflection, he recalls the experience as being “my moment” during which he realized, “I’m really starting to make progress towards where I want to be in my career.”
That opportunity stemmed from Bradford’s tenure as a student writer at the University of Idaho, where he will be a junior in the fall.
Bradford, an Idaho transplant originally from Temecula, California, decided on sports journalism in the eighth grade. Since then, he’s been dedicated to a career “that satisfies.”
“I want to a have a job where I’m going to be content, and I’m not going to be looking for that next job,” he said.
- Caroline Saint James
Cannon Barnett
Cannon Barnett has never taken a journalism class.
A biology graduate from Eastern Washington University, the media industry didn’t even enter his mind as a career possibility until someone suggested he apply for a job at his college newspaper, the Easterner.
Though he had a background in creative writing, Cannon had his work cut out.
“It was really just like being thrown into the fire,” Barnett said. “But I loved figuring it all out.”
He was hooked, and as semesters flew by he slowly worked his way toward editor-in-chief.
“I really like being able to let people know what’s going on in their community, especially if they’ve got money or a stake in it,” he said. “Being able to consolidate things and say, ‘Here, this is what’s happening’ – it’s very rewarding.”
A Spokane native, Barnett was thrilled to hear The Spokesman-Review was hiring summer interns in 2024. He landed a spot and spent the summer writing stories that ranged from strip club shutdowns to upticks in yellow jacket populations.
Barnett returned to the paper a second summer as a general assignment intern.
Though he plans on later attending graduate school for biology, the skills he’s picked up at the paper will follow him no matter the discipline.
“I feel so much more qualified, even though there was nothing to do with science, it was just personal development,” Barnett said.
- Bonny Matejowsky
Corbin Vanderby
Corbin Vanderby discovered journalism by chance.
Born and raised in Manhattan, Montana, Vanderby planned to study geography at the University of Montana. But when the geography department dissolved, Vanderby knew he had to pivot.
That’s when he read a story in the college newspaper, the Montana Kaiman, about the end of UM’s geography program that piqued his interest. After that, he got involved in the student newspaper and started writing about everything from guest speakers on campus discussing international relations to rising incidents of bike theft.
Vanderby’s other main interest doesn’t have to do with a typist’s keyboard, but rather with strings. He started playing jazz guitar in middle school and said he quickly latched onto the persona of being “a music guy.” He modeled a good portion of his identity after his music idols, people like Jack White of the White Stripes, and bands such as Ween and the Beatles. Now he’s working on finding his more authentic self.
His journey to journalism spawned, at least in part, from the time he spent writing song lyrics. Vanderby wanted to get an internship in journalism over the summer to get a taste of what an average day of work would look like in a newsroom.
Vanderby will be a junior this fall in Missoula. Once he graduates, he hopes to continue to work in journalism, perhaps somewhere in Washington as he’s become fond of its picturesque lakes, luscious greenery and mountains.
When Vanderby isn’t writing a story or reporting on an issue, you might find him continuing his work on guitar or crafting a Dungeons & Dragons plot line with his friends.
“I think it’s very easy to look at somebody and assume where their beliefs align, especially nowadays,” Vanderby said. “I find myself doing it sometimes, too. It’s very easy to just see somebody and be like, ‘I bet they think this or think this.’ If somebody were to look at me, I hope that they would see somebody who’s actually willing to listen and be respectful of whatever they have to think because that is what I truly believe in.”
- Mathew Callaghan
Caroline Saint James
As a lover of learning, Caroline Saint James naturally gravitated to the world of journalism as a Spokesman-Review intern to educate herself outside of the classroom.
“Education all the way,” Saint James said. “I’m never going to stop learning. I guess that I am a very passionate student and the newsroom is just another classroom for me.”
Saint James began as a high school intern at The Spokesman-Review last summer and remembers attending a court case where a murderer was sentenced to life in prison. Saint James described the experience as foreign, hearing the heartfelt victim’s statements and the loud applause that came after the sentence.
Saint James valued the experience as one that taught her about the world and even used it as the basis for a college application essay.
Saint James recently graduated from Gonzaga Preparatory School and will attend Dartmouth College in the fall studying chemistry, math and French.
Eventually, she hopes to go to medical school, but no matter what, she said she wants to keep learning and being a student in whatever classroom.
“I’m very grateful for this opportunity and for the trust that they put in all the interns on Day 1,” Saint James said. “I think without that, we wouldn’t have the confidence to do well and to be the source of news for our community.”
- Corbin Vanderby
Bonny Matejowsky
For some, career searching consists of comparing pay rates and taking the one that pays the most, regardless of the work. Bonny Matejowsky said she simply seeks “rewarding work.”
She is passionate about journalism and wants to stick with it for as long as possible because she desires to make a difference in the world. She would love to work for a magazine like the New Yorker or the Atlantic.
Since starting her summer internship at The Spokesman-Review, Matejowsky’s confidence in her daily reporting has flourished. Her favorite aspect of working at The S-R is the mentoring.
“They will provide guidance, but they also let me do things myself and kind of figure it out myself. I feel like it’s a really supportive environment,” Matejowsky said. “I don’t know if you could say that about every other newspaper.”
Matejowsky grew up in Orlando, Florida, and graduated from the University of Florida in Gainesville this spring. Matejowsky recalls developing her love for journalism while working on an assignment for a feature writing class with professor Cynthia Barnett. She wrote a piece about the only Black, female independent mortician owner in Florida, and was proud to be able to share her story.
“I think that experience definitely played a huge part,” Matejowsky said. “She was like this really cool lady that otherwise probably wouldn’t have gotten that recognition. I enjoy journalism, because it can shine a light on people who you wouldn’t even think of twice.”
- Liam Bradford