Spring 2021 Fellow Reflections
Michelle Gan is on a gap year and a rising junior at Stanford University, where she studies Computer Science. She served as the Tribune’s Spring 2021 Engineering Fellow. Learn more about Michelle here.
What was your path to the Tribune? Why did you want to apply?
At the time I applied, I'd been looking for ways to apply technology in a community-centric way. During the pandemic, as digital news organizations became a critical source of knowledge, I became really interested in the applications of technology in and for news organizations.
One of my mentors at Stanford connected me to a wonderful journalism professor at Stanford, and I chatted with him about trends in digital and local journalism and the ins and outs of news-related work. He was actually previously a professor at UT Austin, so he pointed me to the Tribune.
When I saw the application for the Spring fellowship open, I applied immediately. It seemed like (and it was!) a perfect chance to explore engineering in the journalism world!
What did you do during your fellowship? What have you learned?
When I came in, my manager, Ashley, had several options for projects I could work on. I was able to choose from projects with the potential to really impact the organization.
During my fellowship, I worked on two primary projects: redesigning the article republishing flow and developing a blog site (this one you’re currently on!) for the engineering team.
For the former, I had the chance to dive into product-related skills I have always wanted to learn, like user experience research and road mapping. I got to wear many hats: product manager, engineer, user researcher, etc. While developing the blog site, I was able to learn from full-time engineers on the team about accessibility and responsive web design.
For me, the fellowship experience has increased my confidence with skills like scoping projects, developing a product roadmap, and working across teams and stakeholders. I learned to think about projects and products through a systems-level approach and gained familiarity with a specific set of language surrounding the newsroom and news products that I can hopefully take with me. I also grew as an engineer learning from so many bright people!
What was the most surprising part of the fellowship?
I was surprised by how interconnected and lean the engineering team was. Full-time engineers were always encouraged to take on projects that were interesting to them.
I was encouraged this personal agency—to jump into various product, engineering, and marketing teams’ conversations and to find projects that fit my interests—as a fellow too, which I loved.
Since this was my first time working in or adjacent to a newsroom, I also found it surprising to how the engineering team’s work fluctuated depending on breaking news. One such example was during the Texas winter storm, when engineers developed FAQ modules and text bots within 24 hours to get critical information to Texans.
What is your favorite memory from the fellowship?
I have two!
The first is the user research interviews I did with local news organizations for my republishing project. Hearing from these newsrooms about how the Tribune helped their newsrooms fluorish despite limited resources was a daily motivator.
The second has nothing to do with my work. Instead, it has to do with the incredible level of community care that I’ve seen at the Trib. During the Texas winter storm in mid-February, when millions of Texans experienced power outages for days, members of the Texas Tribune community really stepped up for each other. Engineers (s/o Andrew!) delivered water to reporters and reporters opened their homes to their colleagues. It was this tight-knit sense of community that really made a difference. It made me really proud to work here.
What is your advice for anyone applying?
Just do it! You'll get a chance to meet incredible, mission-driven people and work on projects that excite you. Even if you don't have a background in journalism, bring your passion and excitement for the Tribune!