By Maddie Dart, Intern at Muse Group

Inspiration is all around me. I see stories in people and things, and truly believe that everyone and everything has a rhyme to its reason. Why is that girl on crutches? How did that coffee shop open? Where is that foreign exchange student from? There is always more than what meets the eye.

The world around me is my muse.

I’m Maddie Dart, an intern at Muse Group. Currently, I am a sophomore at the University of Nevada, Reno studying Journalism with an emphasis in broadcast television.

People always question my desire to go into the journalism field. I’m constantly asked, “why did you chose journalism?” and, “What sparked your interest?” Well, I owe my ‘spark,’ so to speak, to my dad. He’s another muse of mine. My dad has been and still is a an anchor for television stations all around the U.S. Growing up, I’ve watched him accomplish numerous professional goals and develop into a strong, personable and successful anchor.

Watching my dad made me want to become apart of the broadcast industry. I want the Emmy’s that sit on a shelf at home. I long for the opportunities to travel and interview people like Dr. Oz or Jimmy Fallon. I want to feel the adrenaline pulsing through my veins that comes with a breaking news story on live TV. His accomplishments and hard work inspired me to join my high school’s broadcast program when I was a freshman. By the middle of my junior year, I had made up my mind, I wanted to continue broadcast journalism in college.

Now, you maybe asking yourself, “Why is this girl interning for a marketing, design, public relations and advertising agency if she’s studying broadcast?” Well my friends, first off, in the journalism profession, you take all the experience you can get. Secondly, public relations and the media often work closely together and it’s important to be familiar with both PR and the news.

Public relations and the news media are practically best friends, maybe even siblings. PR professionals pitch story ideas to the media to promote their clients’ businesses they represent. These story ideas turn into reality and then are broadcasted in the news. Without PR, the news would be lacking in stories to produce and without the news, public relations groups would have slim sources to share their client’s story.

Media people don’t just listen to any ol’ PR professional and PR professionals don’t just pitch to random media outlets. For that reason, it’s vital for both PR and reporters to develop healthy, working relationships. These relationships then turn into friendships, where the relationship becomes mutually beneficial and they can rely on each other and work together to produce the best content for viewers.

I was first attracted to Muse Group when I met Jaclyn Coleman. She was kind enough to let me help during Reno’s first ever Comic-Con event. During this time, I quickly realized how amazing and rewarding it was to work with a company that has already developed such strong relationships within the media. I learned so much from Muse Group in such a short amount of time that I requested to continue our relationship.

As a broadcast major, I strive to develop these kinds of relationships. Working with Muse Group in public relations is helping me realize what things I can do for my future relationships in order to help us both thrive. If I can see the PR goals then I can accomplish my broadcasting goals.