ABOUT
The Public Press is a startup nonprofit, noncommercial local news organization dedicated to enriching the civic life of San Francisco by delivering public interest journalism to broad and diverse audiences. Currently publishing online, we plan to expand our interactive offerings and start a daily print newspaper supported by memberships, not advertising. Operated mostly by volunteers, The Public Press is not yet in a position to pay its interns.
OBJECTIVES
The Public Press offers mentorship and training to interns who will produce original news content.
PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS
We are looking for highly skilled, motivated interns who have previous experience with newspapers or newspaper-style journalism, demonstrate the ability to grasp complex, fast-moving news stories, can ask tough questions of important people and can produce clean copy conforming to AP style on deadline. Audio, video and photography skills are a plus.
- Interns receiving class credit. Interns who want class credit for their work at The Public Press must fulfill the internship requirements outlined by their respective schools. Interns must provide these requirements before they begin their internships.
- Interns not receiving class credit. Interns who work at The Public Press but are not eligible for class credit must commit to working at least eight hours per week.
- Volunteers. Public Press volunteers at all experience levels are welcome to attend any skill building or career development session provided for the benefit of interns, space permitting.
PROGRAMMING
Each intern will participate in:
- General assignment and project reporting. Interns will complete at least one general assignment story per week and also work on longer-term projects. The news editor will assign stories. Interns are encouraged to pitch stories that meet the Public Press coverage objectives of producing contextual, consequential and balanced reporting.
- Writing daily news roundups. Interns will help monitor a wide variety of local news sources for stories that help the community understand complex and important issues. Interns will write daily roundups of these stories on deadline.
- Weekly skill building and career development sessions. Interns will participate in weekly sessions focused on reporting and writing skills, core journalism practices, career development, technology tools and the evolution of the news business.
- One-on-one mentorship. Each intern will be paired with a professional mentor. Mentors will coach interns through their work at The Public Press and also provide educational and career guidance.
HOW TO APPLY
Send a resume and cover letter, plus three clips to internships [AT] public-press.org. Please describe your journalism experience, familiarity with San Francisco and the dates you are available.
The Public Press also sponsors interns who are interested in community engagement, nonprofit development, marketing, multimedia news production and Web development. If your experience or interests seem better suited for one of these non-editorial internships, please send an email specifying your area of interest to internships [AT] public-press.org.
If you have any questions, contact Project Director Michael Stoll at mstoll [AT] public-press.org or (415) 513-5698.
