InternViews: De’Ondre Harris

InternViews is a series where we ask Grady College students to describe their internship experience.

De’Ondre Harris recently graduated with a journalism degree in May 2025 and works in New York City this summer/fall as a production assistant intern with ABC’s “The View.” Read more about his internship experience below. 

Provide a brief overview of your role and its associated responsibilities.

I am a production assistant intern with ABC’s The View. With this internship, my responsibilities are endless, from gathering information for the hot topics meetings to researching current events in pop culture and politics. I also assist other producers with researching upcoming guests and take detailed notes on prior interviews to see how can we approach it from a more unique angel, camera operators by being a stand in as a host to find the correct camera positioning, directors with making sure they have the correct scripts for each segment and even the host as we work towards producing a live show. This role is a multitude of things that are all hands-on deck, essentially. With all these various responsibilities, I’m able to learn many facets of the production world to see if this is essentially what I want to do career-wise.

What opportunities did you have during your internship?

With this internship, the experience is truly what you make of it. The phrase “close mouths don’t get fed” is very key here. With that, I have been able to connect with the producers, production staff, co-host and even other co-workers within the building to establish more of a relationship that isn’t transactional. Whether that is sitting in on guests being briefed, researching an upcoming guest or simply just shadowing and being a fly on the wall. I have truly been immersed in everything from pitching timely and engaging pop culture stories, researching upcoming guests so that producers are equipped with as much information they need to have a good segment and assisting the associate directors and producers while in the control room that ultimately makes up a live production. I’m really able to soak up everything that comes my way. Ultimately, I just want to make sure that I’m not missing out on any learning opportunities.

How has the Grady curriculum prepared you for this internship?

The Grady experience that helped me tremendously and made a big impact on me was Newsource. Newsource taught me what a live broadcast entails; I’m just doing it on a much bigger scale. Newsource instilled the efficiency, grit and readiness to take on any challenge or obstacle that I’m faced with and I use those capabilities every day when I step on set, the control room and even through day-to-day life. All in all, I’m using all the skills that Professor Dodie Cantrell instilled in us through this whole experience with hopes to make her proud and ultimately myself proud.

Did you receive any mentorship or guidance? How did it impact your experience?

YES! I have received both mentorship/ guidance from the best there is, and that is our Executive Broadcast Producer and fellow alumni Robin Hommel (ABJ ‘96), whom I affectionately call my fairy godmother. If it wasn’t for her guidance, wisdom and push, I would not be where I am now. The way she carries herself in the office, control room and on set is what I hope to exude in the newsroom one day. Robin stays in contact with me every chance she can, whether that is giving me new tips, making sure that I’m in the loop on everything or simply just a friendly wave in the hallway. One thing I will never forget she told me is that “Grady helps Grady,” and that small phrase really struck me because she never lost her Grady roots. She was so eager to lift me up and take me under her wing, and for that, I’m forever grateful.

How has this internship influenced your future career?

This internship has influenced my future career in ways that I didn’t even see possible. This internship really changed the trajectory of my future career for the better and ultimately made me a force to be reckoned with. Skills like researching hot topics, researching various guests or simply watching fold out live in the control room. I am able to take what I learned in the classroom and actually apply it to day-to-day operations as we work curating what makes “The View” the #1 Daytime Talk Show. The skills and tools I’m learning are something that will be ingrained in me for life. As I am soaking up every moment of this internship, I’m so looking forward to what lies ahead and comes after this great opportunity.

Editor: Lily Alarcon, lia52467@uga.edu