The White House, Capitol Hill, the Supreme Court, the Pentagon … Tsinghua University journalism student Sihan Zhang covered some of the biggest news stories in the U.S. during a three-month stint in Washington, D.C.

Zhang, a junior in the School of Journalism and Communication, worked as a multimedia reporter at the Scripps Howard Foundation Wire this semester in Washington, D.C. As the first Chinese student enrolled in this program, Zhang has learned a lot through covering various breaking news events in the capital of the United States. She reported on Sino-U.S. relations, the capital shooting and the U.S. government shutdown, covering a variety of topics such as education, business, government and diplomacy.

During the internship, Zhang took photos and videos for her story, as well as edited videos and made slideshows.

“This is the craziest three months I have ever spent.” Zhang said.

“I have heard my professors mention ‘Snow Fall’ (a famous New York Times multimedia project) in class many times, but this is my first experience of developing a multimedia story myself.” Zhang said.

Zhang designed her own website, during her internship. She said it is a collection of work from her first two years at Tsinghua University.

“I took TV production and Journalism Photography last semester. I thought these two courses were really challenging to me at that time. And I didn't understand why they are listed as requirements.” Zhang said. “But now I feel so lucky that Dr. Juniian Liang, taught us all these techniques, and most important, how to tell a story from different angles.”

During Zhang’s six months of work there, she participated in the special reporting on Kim Jong-Il’s death.

“Editing photos and news stories sent from Pyongyang furthered my determination to eliminate political bias in international news reporting and exhibit to the world a complete image of the East.” Zhang said.

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