Greetings from the world of the graduate journalism student. My name is Patrick Hogan and I will be Project Thunderdome’s first journalism intern for the spring semester. I am very excited to be a part of Thunderdome and can’t wait to get my hands dirty.

Here is the quick version of my biography. I have six years of professional experience as a reporter and editor at the Gazette in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and the Daily Times in Farmington, N.M. I attend New York University as part of the Studio 20 graduate journalism program. When I’m not at Thunderdome or NYU, I usually can be found playing video games and tinkering around, on, or in my PC, which is named “La Banda Oriental.”

I’ve been aware of Thunderdome for some time, much in the way that Pluto is aware of Jupiter (it’s really big and seems important, but it’s far away and likely won’t ever cross my path). It wasn’t until Jim Brady came to talk to my Studio 1 class that I was motivated to take a closer look. The idea behind Thunderdome — empowering journalists at DFM’s local newspapers — resonates very strongly with me given my background working for smaller, local newspapers. I’m thrilled to be a contributing member of the team, and hope to learn a lot along the way.

I plan to post on this blog several times during the next few months to share my experiences “under the dome.” Most of my background is in news and reporting, but I’m very excited about the possibilities of working with the growing data and video teams here. You can also keep track of my progress through my Twitter account @phogan.

Let’s get this show on the road.