Summer Centered: Robert Carpenter ‘18 Tackles Foreign Affairs

Thanks to funding from the Andrew Silk Summer Journalism program, Robert Carpenter ‘18 is spending  his summer interning at Foreign Affairs magazine in New York. The bimonthly is published by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), an independent, nonpartisan membership organization, think tank, and publisher, and it is widely acclaimed as the most influential media source for discussion of American foreign policy and global issues.

“Coming to work at a top foreign policy think tank like the CFR has been an interesting and informative experience, especially recently with events like the Brexit and the political coup in Turkey rocking the news cycle,” Carpenter says.

The history major first came to appreciate the level of clarity and insightfulness of the magazine when he was doing research for a class. Since he began work at the magazine’s headquarters in New York this summer, Carpenter has come to realize that without flexibility and willingness to try new ideas and approaches, the public’s growing reliance on social media would quickly take its toll on the traditional print news industry. That’s why the Foreign Affairs magazine has had to adjust to a world that has changed dramatically since its first publication almost a hundred years ago by utilizing online services and new technologies.

“With the print news industry in a state of flux, magazines can no longer just depend on quality stories and insights for success,” he says.

Carpenter is grateful for the office’s openness to ideas and perspectives from all employees, regardless of their position, thus enabling even interns to actively participate in the creation of the leading global news source.

“I really appreciate how this internship has allowed me to experience multiple different roles," he says, "and learn many different steps in the creation of a magazine and news website."

—Katya Konradova '19

"Summer Centered" is a series exploring our students’ Center-funded summer work.