RAI Corporation Internship Program

By Janet Lawrence

RAI’s New York office, located in the AT&T building at 32 Avenue of the Americas, is a brick, art deco high rise; its towering antenna is visible throughout Soho. Stepping onto the 25th floor, you are greeted by Italian-American receptionists, the gatekeepers to this island within an island. From here, America falls away and Italy begins.

I pursued an internship at RAI because I wanted to spend the summer speaking my second language while fulfilling the summer internship requirement for my masters in journalism. As an intern at RAI, I have been working in the news production department. Until a week ago I assisted Gerardo Greco, the foreign correspondent for TG2, helping produce one or two packages per day. The stories focus on American culture--stories that portray peculiarities and peccadilloes particular to America. I’ve been told that TG2’s demographic is a slightly younger crowd, interested in entertaining stories, rather than hard news—they adore these color stories from the United States. The deadline for each day’s story is 2:30 PM EST, as TG2 airs at 8:30 PM Italian time.

One of these peculiarities was the story on Debrahlee Lorenzana, the New York banker who alleges she was fired for her curvaceous appearance and revealing clothing. For the story, I did research, accompanied Greco to the Williamsburg Chase branch where Lorenzana works, conducted man-on-the-street interviews, and assisted writing the script. For Italians, dressing in a provocative manner is hardly newsworthy—and it is certainly not a punishable offense, so it was the responsibility of the foreign correspondent and the production team to provide an Italian audience with extra information that might seem obvious or redundant for Americans. For this piece, and for most pieces, as the resident American, Greco called upon me to contextualize these peculiarities. And this is the job I most enjoy at RAI—decoding aspects of American culture for an international audience. The story then loses its New York Post-quality sensationalist shine and unpacks the interests and concerns of a country in a post-feminist society. It becomes a story that demands an understanding of women’s liberation, sexual harassment in the workplace, the American obsession with lawsuits, the rise and fall of political correctness, etc. Thinking about these things while I assist the journalist and producers to compose the piece—and having my ideas included in the script-- is the most rewarding part of the experience.

In the last week, I’ve been working with Giulio Borrelli and I certainly look forward to spending this final month with his production team to experience their unique way of developing a story. With the explosion of the exposed Russian spy ring on the American imagination, we scrambled to keep Italians updated with the latest, from Anna Chapman’s sexy-spy mystique to the deportation of the group back to Russia. We delved into the depths of Russian spy movies to collect images to accompany his scripts, rich with allusions to James Bond thrillers and Cold War dramas.

As for what I will take with me, it has certainly been instructive on how il mondo lavorativo works in Italy. From the language to the friendly staff to the espresso breaks, I feel as though I am in the bel paese. As far as gaining an understanding of how American broadcast news works, I’m not sure that my experiences will translate. But I don’t mind. I got an incredible international experience this summer without having to find a subletter, and for that, I’m grateful.