Ten GIFS That Explain Why You Need to Choose Capital News Service for Your Capstone

There is nothing fake about Capital News Service. We've been open for 25 years and we're as real as a newsroom gets in an academic environment.

Our student journalists run the show:. They manage our website, produce a nightly TV show, manage our social media feeds (Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr) and cover stories that are sent around the country via our CNS wire. No other capstone offers you that level of authenticity.

Undoubtedly, you've had internships at top professional news organizations, where the highest profile work was done by full-time employees. At CNS, all of the important work is done by you and your peers. You are the one we send to Philadelphia to cover the Pope or to the White House to cover Michelle Obama. You produce the award-winning in-depth investigative series. You anchor our TV newscast. You are the person running our Twitter and Facebook accounts and developing our website.

CNS has four offices -- in downtown Annapolis a block from the State House; in Washington, D.C., halfway between the White House and Congress; Our digital hub in College Park Studio C in Knight Hall; and our broadcasting hub in College Park Studio B. From these bases, our student journalists fan out across the state to cover important stories.

News organizations pay us to subscribe to the Capital News Service wire. It gives them the right to use the stories you produce on their websites (with your byline). That's good for you, because it gives you great clips for your portfolio and exposure.

Plus, we take that money and give it back to students who choose the "full-time" CNS option -- approximately $250 per student.

Employers look for three things when they hire student journalists for entry-level jobs: good references from professionals, a record of employment with solid organizations and proof that you can do the work, usually in the form of a clip package, a portfolio or a resume reel.

Capital News Service will help you build up a professional-quality package that will help you stand out from the other 400 people applying for the same job. How? By letting you cover the big story, and helping you produce stories in multiple story formats that will show your range (text, video, photo, interactive graphics, social features and more).

You'll leave CNS with a portfolio that is both deeper and wider than other students. And because we let you cover the big stories, the clips, video packages and graphics you produce will be better than those you'll get at an internship.

Capital News Service journalists leave CNS ready to jump right in at major professional news organizations. You'll learn on the job and perfect critical news skills.

Want to be an on-air broadcast reporter? We'll help you get better at producing packages, anchoring shows and writing for the web.

Want to be a multiplatform beat reporter? We'll push you to become a better reporter and writer and help you use new digital tools to push beyond standard text stories.

Want to be a social media editor? We'll help you learn how to use analytics, engage the audience and produce viral social content and sharable graphics.

Want to be a data reporter, web developer or graphic designer? We'll help you become a better coder and designer and learn advanced data analysis techniques.

We've been around for 25 years, and in that time more than 1,200 people have worked for Capital News Service. CNS alums work at places like CNN, The New York Times, Apple News, ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Vice, Bloomberg, The Washington Post, NASA, The Baltimore Sun, The Dallas Morning News and hundreds of other great organizations.

CNS alums like to hire young CNSers because they know it prepares them for the workforce. They email CNS editors every week asking for names of on people to hire. If you do well here, our people put your name at the top of the pile.

What's more, Maryland and national news organizations that subscribe to the CNS wire also like to hire CNS grads, because they've seen what they are capable of.

Yeah, Cuba. A few years ago, we sent a reporter to Guantanamo Bay for a story. We recently sent students up and down the East Coast to cover the Pope. Every four years, we send students to both political conventions. CNS students go kayaking for stories, hang out with oystermen, fly in small planes, go to the White House and a lot more. We're the only student news organization, as far as we know, credentialed to cover the Baltimore Ravens and the Washington professional football team.

Um, okay. We also play music all day in the newsroom, from a giant playlist that all CNS reporters contribute to. You can listen to this semester's here.

We also do weird stuff, like this graphic.

We'll let you cover pretty much anything you are passionate about, with the possible exception of TMZ-style celebrity news. While we certainly let students who are interested in politics and government cover those things, we do a lot more.

Here's a sample of recent beats we've assigned:

• sports
• youth issues
• race
• environment
• business
• economics
• politics
• campaign finance
• education
• transportation
• health
• juvenile justice
• national security
• foreign affairs
• arts
• music
• internet culture
• food
• pop culture
• religion
• science
• space
• energy

You may have heard that Capital News Service requires a much larger time commitment than other capstones.

That's simply not true.

Part-time participation in CNS (3 credits) requires you to work two full days -- about 7 hours per day plus an hour lunch break -- for a total of 14-15 hours per week. Full-time participation in CNS (6 credits) is four full days -- about 7 hours per day plus an hour lunch break -- for about 28-30 hours per week.

With all other capstones, you'll spend about three hours per week in class. But you'll have a minimum of 10 hours of homework to complete outside of class -- and perhaps more. That's at least 13 hours per week, and possibly more, with other capstones, comparable to CNS.

Journalism awards look great on a resume. You want a job, right?