Shaping the Summer: Stories from Hearst’s 2025 Interns
A Look Inside Hearst
Author: Sarah Morse & Airelle Smith | Published 9/1/25
This summer, interns, associates and fellows brought curiosity, creativity and drive to every project they touched — from building new tools and pitching fresh ideas to producing content that connected with audiences nationwide.
RETURN TO CAREERS HOMEPAGE
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Their contributions made an impact on our colleagues, our brands and our communities.
We thank them all for sharing their skills and perspectives, and we thank our colleagues, especially the managers and program leaders who guided them along the way.
Read on for some Summer @ Hearst highlights they shared with us!
Storytelling Across Platforms
Creative Production and Media Relations
Communications and Experience Building
Research and Strategy
Technology and Innovation
Storytelling Across Platforms
Ace Hayes: Editing for a Global Audience
Ace contributed to Fitch’s multimedia efforts by editing videos, graphics and animations for marketing campaigns and digital platforms. He produced text-based videos that were featured on Fitch Ratings’ website, YouTube and social channels, and produced and delivered an internal client video, an experience that helped him sharpen both his creative and project management skills.
Advice: “Soak it all up like a sponge; people are happy to share what they know.”
Multimedia Intern, Fitch Group
Rosamelia Sánchez Lara: Finding Her Beat in Magazines
Rosamelia quickly integrated into the Good Housekeeping team, pitching and publishing three original stories and assisting during Amazon Prime Week – one of our busiest weeks of the year! She discovered a love for travel writing, and authored a feature, 20 Best Places to See the Stars and Reconnect with Nature. Seeing her work published alongside seasoned writers gave her a clearer picture
Editorial Intern, Good Housekeeping, Hearst Magazines
Amaya in action for KMBC-TV, Kansas City.
Watch the Class of 2025 Intern Show, featuring Amaya’s Cold Open (a short segment that plays at the very start of a TV program) and the work of KMBC-TV summer interns Carson DuRall, Channing Headlee, Hannah Whetstone and Justin Scott.
Miera Nachar: Giving Icons a Modern Voice
Miera built social media style guides for Popeye, Olive Oyl, Flash Gordon and The Phantom, and turned insights into real content. One of her favorite wins was spotting a pop-culture tie-in when musician Conan Gray announced an album in a sailor outfit. She pitched a parody cover featuring Popeye, designed it and saw it become the highest-performing Popeye Instagram post of the year so far — proof that a timely, playful idea can take off.
Theme song: “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield — “This felt like the first pages of a much bigger story.”
Advice: “The weeks fly by, so savor every moment and embrace every opportunity that comes your way.”
Brand Marketing & Social Associate, King Features Syndicate, Hearst Newspapers
terms. One of her proudest moments was writing her first credited article for the station, a guide to summer activities in Baltimore, that landed on the WBAL-TV homepage.
Theme song: “Mind Conductor” by YURiKA — “Uplifting lyrics and big piano riffs that push me forward.”
Advice: “Blend your creative strengths with newsroom skills. That’s where great stories come to life.”
Caroline Zeghibe: Shaping Stories for Every Screen
Caroline’s summer at WBAL-TV was fast-paced and full of collaboration, with a balance that gave her space to be creative. She put her video editing and social media skills to work on the Hearst Television Summer Showdown, a friendly intern competition, where she produced two videos — one about WBAL-TV’s history and another that explained TV news
Digital Intern, WBAL-TV, Baltimore, Hearst Television
Creative Production & Media Relations
Amaya Morgan: Lights, Camera, Community
Amaya spent the summer in the Creative Services department, soaking up information like a sponge. She pitched and produced video promos highlighting community stories, bringing in her own creative vision and building advanced skills in Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe After Effects to deliver TV-grade spots.
Emma Bowen Foundation Fellow, KMBC-TV, Kansas City, Hearst Television
Theme song: “Moment 4 Life” by Nicki Minaj and Drake — Amaya says the lyric “I’m not lucky, I’m blessed” perfectly sums up how she feels about her summer. “I’m grateful for the people I worked with, the projects I got to own and the skills I built along the way.”
Advice: “Take initiative to pitch ideas. The best projects often start with you raising your hand.”
Theme song: “On Top of the World” by Imagine Dragons — “I grew more confident as my ideas came to life.”
Advice: “Speak up, set coffee chats and take initiative. You’ll be surprised how much responsibility follows.”
Stephanie Oliver: From Idea to Impact, and Now Full Time
Stephanie pitched and wrote content that went live across clients’ organic and paid channels. She’s now turning her internship into a career, joining Hearst Newspapers full time as a social media coordinator.
Social Media Intern, Social Studio, Hearst Newspapers
Raquel Riveros: From Pitch to Press
Raquel supported the Men’s Health Outdoor Awards from start to finish, researching and vetting products, coordinating with brands for press samples and helping assemble press packages. She also assisted her manager on set at the Today show when the awards segment went live, seeing months of preparation turn into a national moment. Earlier in the project, she captured a quote during the Men’s Health Lab event with actor Josh Duhamel that was included in a media alert, leading to coverage on Just Jared.
PR Associate, Hearst Magazines
Theme song: “Music Sounds Better With You” by Stardust — “Just like the song says, everything really does feel better when you’re in a great environment, learning and growing with others.”
Advice: “Say yes to projects and conversations. You never know what opens a door.”
Raquel’s behind-the-scenes view backstage during the Today show Men’s Health Outdoor Awards segment.
Communications & Experience Building
Darleny Ayala Almanzar: Streamlining Systems and Design
Darleny tackled projects from system-sync troubleshooting to creating an internal design library. While working with the operations team, she investigated syncing between Salesforce and Microsoft Power BI — gaining valuable exposure to two widely used marketing and analytics platforms. She also organized a digital asset management system for the design team to use across campaigns.
Marketing Coordinator Intern, Fitch Ratings
She says her colleagues were “beyond amazing,” from providing training on internal systems to giving her tips on the college-to-workplace transition over coffee. In addition to that, the Hearst team provided insightful weekly career workshops.
Theme song: “Human” by Christina Perri — “I sometimes overthought things, and this song reminded me to give myself grace.”
Advice: “Work hard and give it all you can so that when it ends you can be proud of everything you’ve done.”
One highlight was presenting her early findings to senior leaders, who encouraged her to take those ideas further and turn them into actionable next steps. The project challenged her to translate complex observations into strategies that put people at the center of the hiring journey.
If Her Internship Were a Movie: “The Gen Z Graduate: Influencer or Corporate — “I would want Zendaya to play me.”
Advice: “Come with an open mind and be ready to stretch yourself. Growth often comes disguised as uncertainty or challenge.”
Sharina Bareng: Designing Better Candidate Experiences
Sharina led a Candidate Experience Optimization project, diving deep into the hiring process to find ways to make it more engaging and candidate-friendly. She researched industry best practices, compared Hearst Health’s process to those of leading companies and proposed improvements.
Talent Acquisition Intern, FDB (First Databank), Hearst Health
Kennedy Pass: Benefits, Behind the Scenes
Kennedy supported the Corporate Benefits team on projects spanning health and retirement programs, gaining hands-on experience in data analytics, vendor management and the implementation of new benefit programs. She also explored how AI tools could enhance team efficiency, completing multiple trainings and successfully revamping operational reporting — saving the team significant time and resources.
Corporate Intern, Benefits Team, Hearst
A highlight of her experience was stepping in to support the retirement team during an in-person event for colleagues based in Charlotte. She helped manage vendor collaboration, logistics and planning, ensuring a successful and impactful experience.
Theme song: “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac — “A reminder to trust the process and keep building confidence.”
Advice: “Be curious. Your questions can be just as valuable as your answers.”
Her projects touched many aspects of talent strategy. She tested a generative AI agent designed to support the Neurodiversity @ Hearst internship program and helped recruit participants for the article you’re reading right now!
If Her Internship Were a Movie: “The Learning Curve of an Awkward Black Girl” — “Issa Rae would play me, not because we look alike but because it would be the feature film/final season her OG fans always wished for.”
Advice: “An internship is your chance to learn what works for you and what doesn’t. Keep track of your experiences, be present and stay honest with yourself so you leave with the clarity to succeed in your next step.”
Airelle Smith: Exploring Talent Strategy with Purpose
Airelle was surprised — in the best way — by Hearst’s work culture. She found the calm, organized environment refreshing. “People work with speed, efficiency and purpose but without warrantless urgency,” she says. “That grounded efficiency makes Hearst’s people initiatives feel genuine and meaningful.”
Corporate Associate, Talent Strategy & People Team, Hearst
Elle Wilcox: Connecting Stories Across the Portfolio
Elle’s summer spanned storytelling, project coordination and AI experimentation. She worked with teams to plan internal campaigns, wrote and edited stories about Hearst’s many businesses and covered events inside Hearst Tower. On the innovation side, she tested and refined GPT workflows to speed up her team’s communications, making it easier to create and share updates.
Corporate Marketing Communications Associate, Hearst
Advice: “Take advantage of Hearst’s engaged, curious and diverse community. You have access to so many people in so many industries!”
An example of a ChatGPT agent Elle created to support more streamlined communications processes and adherence to corporate brand guidelines.
Research, Strategy & Insights
Jacob Haigh: Turning Theory into Tools
Jacob kicked off his summer by building a complex model for financial instruments that could grow and adapt over time. On a breaking-news day, tapping his economics and policy background, he produced rapid analysis during a potential Federal Reserve leadership shakeup. The fast-paced work gave him a stronger sense of how his skills could make an immediate impact.
Strategy Analyst, Fitch Solutions/CreditSights
If His Internship Were a Movie: The 27-Year-Old Intern (“Is Ryan Gosling in the budget?”)
Advice: “Challenge yourself and take on projects outside your comfort zone.”
Theme song: “Suddenly I See” by KT Tunstall “That early-2000s-NYC energy for a summer of recognizing my strengths.”
Advice: “Keep a running list of your wins and tasks in notes, a spreadsheet or journal, so you can look back and remember you’re here for a reason.”
Alyssa Hutchinson: Data That Drives Design
Alyssa’s main project involved collecting Floor Covering Weekly’s website and social media analytics, organizing the data into spreadsheets and analyzing patterns to help her team brainstorm ways to grow the magazine’s digital reach. This past spring, she took a user-centered design class and was proud to apply those learnings to a site refresh project — proposing several mock-ups, including a visual, calendar-style events layout that ended up in the final redesign plan to improve usability.
Data Associate, Floor Covering Weekly, Business Media
Alyssa working from her space at Hearst Tower.
Advice: “Ask questions early and often. This was my first exposure to bond ratings and sustainable impact, and my manager really encouraged and respected my questions.”
Anitra Marley: Finding a Voice in ESG
Anitra spent the summer digging into Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) datasets while expanding her Excel toolkit and gaining firsthand knowledge of how ESG data helps shape investment decisions. One of her highlights was a midsummer presentation of her findings to a dozen colleagues — her first time speaking to such a large professional audience.
ESG Ratings Intern, Sustainable Fitch, Fitch Solutions
Technology, Data & Innovation
Ryan Harris: Making Data Work Harder with AI
Ryan prototyped an AI workflow to automatically turn raw Excel budget data into presentation-ready Annual Budget Guidance decks. After refining prompts and structure, the AI-generated decks closely matched the final versions presented to division leaders. He also made recommendations for template updates to help future AI-assisted deck creation go even faster.
Tech Finance Summer Associate, Hearst Technology Services
If His Internship Were a Movie: Joy and Ryan’s EXCELlent Adventure (Joy is his manager) — “I would be played by Henry Cavill.”
Advice: “Build skills you can use anywhere. This summer I learned how to work with large datasets and share the impact of my findings in a way that’s clear and concise.”
Advice: “Embrace collaboration. The best solutions often come from sharing ideas openly with your team.”
Saik Jalal: Automating Security Signals
Saik helped change the way Hearst’s Vulnerability and Threat Management team sends threat advisories by building automation to replace a slow manual process. The result is faster delivery and consistent, timely updates to multiple business units across Hearst. He says the project taught him how collaboration and openness can make problem-solving easier and more enjoyable.
Cybersecurity Associate, Hearst Technology Services
Adam Wax: Shipping His First Service
Adam joined the Content Management System (CMS) team and dove straight into building his own microservice from scratch, an experience that let him see the entire development lifecycle, from initial concept to implementation in the company’s software. Along the way, he learned the importance of context in engineering work: understanding the team, the project and its impact on the organization as a whole.
Software Engineering Intern, Hearst Magazines
One of his proudest moments was seeing his name added to the list of contributors who have written and pushed code to production.
Theme song: “Dancing Through Life” from Wicked — “My first step into the professional world, and I made the most of my summer in New York by catching plenty of Broadway shows.”
Advice: “Dive in headfirst and connect with as many people as you can.”
Theme song: “99” by Olamide — “It blends different musical styles from my home country and reminds me of the different paths I explored in my internship.”
Advice: “Stay flexible and explore different paths. Every project adds to your journey.”
Ahmad Yusef: Advancing Security Awareness
Ahmad’s favorite project was planning the Cybersecurity Awareness Month celebration. It gave him the chance to meet with vendors across the industry, work with different teams at Fitch and create tools like a performance metrics dashboard and a project plan to guide the event from start to finish. He also helped onboard two teammates by mapping problems and proposing solutions.
Information Security Community & Engagement Coordinator, Fitch Group
From landing their first bylines to launching new products, this year’s Summer @ Hearst interns turned ideas into impact and left with skills, stories and connections that will help shape their futures. Congratulations to the Summer @ Hearst Class of 2025. We’re proud of all you’ve achieved and can’t wait to see where your careers take you! If you’re interested in building your own Hearst story, explore current internship openings across Hearst.
Jump to intern stories by focus area:
See Ace’s text-based video featured on Fitch Ratings’ website. Watch it here.
“My internal client was ecstatic with the final cut. It felt great to be trusted to own a project.”
of the career she is working toward and reinforced her confidence in pursuing journalism.
If Her Internship Were a Movie: “Paging Through the City” — “Sofia Wylie would play me.”
Advice: “Take advantage of the access you have. Reach out to people across the company.”
“I truly feel like I’ve gotten a taste of what my future as a magazine journalist in New York City will look like.”
“Seeing my first article hit the homepage gave me confidence as a news writer.”
“I didn’t anticipate how much trust I’d be given to share ideas and take initiative.”
“A quote I caught made a media alert that earned coverage — seeing that ripple effect was rewarding.”
“Growth isn’t always linear. Success can come from sustained engagement, not just instant mastery.”
“Before this internship,
I hesitated to ask too many questions. My manager taught me that curiosity is a strength, and it’s helped me build confidence and better understand employee benefits.”
“I enjoy asking questions and finding ways to make things better for people and organizations.”
“Helping with AI acceleration made me feel part of lasting, useful innovation.”
“Being able to apply my economics and policy background to help the team on a roller-coaster day instilled a real sense of camaraderie.”
Miera spotted a moment, pitched a parody and created Popeye’s top-performing Instagram post of the year. See the post.
From pitching to publishing — see Rosamelia’s stories on Good Housekeeping.
“I’m proud to have built up my public speaking muscle. I was nervous to be in front of the group, but grateful for the challenge and the chance to grow.”
“I feel most proud when I find and solve an issue that’s been holding up one of the team’s projects.”
“I feel most proud when I find and solve an issue that’s been holding up one of the team’s projects.”
“I learned a career is not a straight line. It’s a journey of doing different things as long as you keep moving.”
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