Stuck in a Bubble
By Isabella Sayyah ‘16
Last week, I was in a meeting with the features web editors (my bosses, basically), the editors of all the features sections, and the homepage web editors. The homepage web editors wanted to go over pitching stories to put on the homepage, rather than just live on the section pages (food, fashion, etc.). Because the L.A. Times is a major, serious print publication, most of the homepage tends to be hard news stories, but there’s always a few lighter things on there as well (though sometimes you really have to scroll down to see them).
Soon after the meeting started, everyone went around and introduced themselves. Though the homepage web editors had corresponded with all the features editors via email, they hadn’t met all of them face-to-face. I was a little surprised. Here were editors at the same paper, none of whom were particularly new as far as I knew, and they didn’t even know each other. The one floor separating their offices was apparently a lot to bridge at times. At the same time though, it was heartening to know I wasn’t the only one who felt like I was often in a bubble within the bubble of the company.
Although the Times is a big company, there a very few people I interact with on a daily, or even a weekly basis for my job. I rarely even see my friend Annalise, who I worked under at the Daily Trojan when she was our Editor-in-Chief last fall, and is also interning/working at the Times this summer. Like me, she does web stuff. But, because she works on the homepage or at the Real Time News Desk, a new section, I would never naturally see her. In fact, the only times I’ve encountered her at work are when the two of us have made plans to get lunch together.
As for the other summer interns (Annalise has been interning there for longer), I barely see most. There’s a few I eat lunch with regularly, mostly the ones who work near me on the second floor, but I rarely see the other 25, except occasionally at sessions held for the interns. Even now, seven weeks into my internship, I don’t think I’ve met them all.
I’m naturally a more shy and introverted person. Though I do make an effort, my instinct is never to approach people I don’t know or act particularly talkative or outgoing. So, I’m never the person at school or work who knows everyone. But, at the same time, the Times seems so large a company that it’s hard for everyone to interact. I really only work directly with two people — my bosses who are in charge of all the web production for features. I’ve met people here and there, but all the sections appear to be pretty autonomous.
This is completely different from my internship last summer. At RYOT, where there were only about 10 people working for the company, as it was a small little start up, everyone knew each other and worked together.
VICE, where I interned last semester, was a little different. As an intern, I only worked with my two bosses. I met a few other people during my time there, but again I was in my own little bubble. Still, the atmosphere was a bit different. Pretty much everyone worked in a large open space, and though as the intern I didn’t know most people, all the regular employees seemed to know each other. Obviously, this was just in the L.A. office, which is much smaller than the Times is in L.A.
I find one of the most valuable things about internships is getting to observe different office cultures for short periods of time. I haven’t quite decided what I like best, but I have gotten to see small, medium and large offices operate through my three internships. And though I know I still have a lot to work on when it comes to learning to make connections and network, I feel somewhat better prepared for my future jobs.
