Newsroom Internships

The Davis Enterprise offers unpaid newsroom internships to college students or recent graduates seeking to build up their portfolios. Internships are offered year-round.

Description

Our interns do not do “grunt work.” They perform the same duties as our staff reporters. They can be general assignment reporters covering mostly hard news and features or can specialize in sports. We also occasionally take photography interns. Ideally, the intern will be able to work a regular shift in the newsroom during typical work hours to give him/her a real feel for what it is like to work for a newspaper.

Coaching from the staff is provided, but we unfortunately don’t have the time to “teach” the trade. Rather, our interns are given the opportunity to practice the news gathering and writing skills they’ve already learned in school, and collect some good clips to take with them to interviews for their first paid job.

Requirements

Interns must have taken at least one course in basic news writing.

Writing samples will show they understand how to construct news and feature stories (as opposed to college essays).

They must be able to write in a clear, well-organized and interesting manner, meet deadlines, get facts straight, and be accomplished in researching and interviewing.

Recommended

Because we’re in a university town, competition is stiff, especially during the summer. Those who have at least a semester (or two quarters) of experience at a university newspaper (or at a professional publication) will have an edge.

How to apply

Send a resume, cover letter and about six clips showing an ability to write both hard news and feature stories to Internship Coordinator, The Davis Enterprise, P.O. Box 1470, Davis, CA 95617. Indicated which quarter/semester/summer you would like to work.