Two students from the George Washington University’s Columbian College of Arts and Sciences spent their summers turning lifelong dreams into realities. Photojournalism major Sarah Hochstein and communications major Brady Rosenstock, both seniors and both hailing from the New York City metropolitan area, interned with Yankee Entertainment and Sports Network, which over the summer months meant working closely with their hometown New York Yankees.
Ahead of the Major League Baseball Playoffs, of which the 27-time World Series champion Yankees are once again a part of, Hochstein and Rosenstock shared their experiences for GW Today. Here is what their summer was like working with YES and the Yankees, in their words:
Sarah Hochstein
This summer I had the pleasure of working as a creative content intern for YES Network. In this role I had the opportunity to do a variety of tasks, including photographing games at Yankee Stadium, making social media content and graphics and helping producers with their shows that aired on the YES Network. This experience gave me a new understanding of TV production, as well as the amount of people and work that goes into making the Yankees “The Yankees.”
While in this position, I was able to experiment and try out multiple different types of content creation. One of my favorite experiences was being able to photograph a Yankees game from the wells on the ground level. As a photojournalism student who is concentrated in sports photography, this was truly a dream come true. From this experience, I learned the etiquette required to photograph from a well, what to pay attention to during and in between plays and the overall experience of shooting in a Major League stadium. I was also able to connect with other photographers in the industry who were kind and willing to give me advice.
This summer, I also was able to go to a production shoot during Hope Week, a Yankees tradition supporting different charities and organizations by holding special events and inviting people to the stadium. The specific shoot I went on was for Bottomless Closet, an organization that is committed to helping women find jobs by giving them professional clothes, workshops and resume advice to get them back on their feet. It was cool to see the players off the field, but it was really wonderful to see members of the Yankees organization using their influence to promote hardworking and dedicated organizations.
Overall, YES is a truly unique network that makes you feel like family from the second you walk through their doors. The support and kindness I received was unmatched, and the connections I made will stick with me always. My internship class was such a supportive group with one member also being a GW student (Rosenstock). I will miss saying hello to every person who walks in the doors in the morning and, of course, I will miss the unlimited snacks in the office kitchen. I hope to use my experiences to further my sports content career after I graduate this coming May. The connections and techniques I learned this year are priceless and will follow me wherever I end up.
Brady Rosenstock
My summer internship with the YES Network was a truly rewarding and unforgettable experience. Being from New Jersey, I have practically been a Yankees fan my entire life, so walking into their broadcast network’s New York office on my first day and seeing Yankees memorabilia at every turn was surreal and a feeling that never really wore off.
Once I moved past the initial “just happy to be here” phase, I learned a lot over the course of the summer through invaluable hands-on experience. I worked as a communications intern directly with YES Vice President of Communications Eric Handler, which offered me a glimpse of what it is like working in public relations. From tracking media mentions and network ratings to writing press materials, I was challenged to step outside my comfort zone. The biggest growth for me, though, came from learning how to pitch stories–identifying angles, targeting the right contacts and persuading them to run with it. My proudest accomplishment from the summer was having one of the soundbites that I wrote from an interview with [Hall of Fame pitcher] Roger Clemens published in an article by the New York Post.
Some of the highlights from my summer, of course, included going to Yankees games. Some of the other interns and I were fortunate enough to watch a game from the YES suite, which was an incredible experience. A visit to YES’ production studio in Stamford, Connecticut, and a behind-the-scenes tour of where they film the pre- and post-game show gave me a greater appreciation for the scale of work that goes into each broadcast. I even got to meet Yankees studio analyst Jack Curry, whom I’ve been watching on TV for as long as I can remember. He couldn’t have been nicer.
Another great aspect of this internship opportunity with [Eric] Handler was that he made sure we were not only providing work for the network but also learning for ourselves. He introduced me to a range of people working in PR and sports media, which really gave me a better understanding of the paths that I want to take in the future. My summer with the Yankees, working at YES Network, was the spark that confirmed my passion for sports media and public relations. I’m excited to carry these lessons into a new role that I have just begun here in D.C. with Monumental Sports & Entertainment, continuing to build on the foundation YES helped me create.
