Priya Leal

Priya Leal has joined the Tyler Morning Telegraph news team as a summer intern.

Leal will work as an editorial intern, researching, interviewing, reporting and writing stories as part of the daily newspaper’s editorial staff.

Leal was selected by the board of the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors as one of three statewide recipients of the 2022 Buster Haas Minority Internship Program. The program, named after a late Dallas Morning News assistant managing editor and veteran journalist, aims to increase the number of minority journalists working in newsrooms across Texas.

After working in a newsroom for at least 10 weeks, recipients earn a $500 scholarship.

“We are honored to have the chance to host a Buster Haas intern this summer,” said Santana Wood, managing editor of the Morning Telegraph. “I hope Priya will gain invaluable experience that she can apply to the rest of her schooling and future professional career. We plan to put Priya to work reporting on a variety of news in our community. It’s going to be a productive summer.”

Leal is originally from Houston but is staying in Tyler for her internship. She is a sophomore at the University of North Texas, majoring in digital/print journalism.

Leal previously was part of the Scripps Howard Foundation of Emerging Journalists Program. Through that, she started writing as an intern for the Denton Record Chronicle. She wrote various feature stories and covered local news in the city of Denton.

Additionally, Leal wrote for her university newspaper, The North Texas Daily.

Leal said she is ecstatic to be interning.

“I am very passionate about the journalism field,” Leal said. “I hope to gain more experience and learn as much as I can while being here.”

For story ideas, email pleal@tyler paper.com .