Internships and Fellowships

Paid, thoughtfully designed internships and fellowships play a key role in ensuring that outstanding emerging journalists from diverse backgrounds engage with the nonprofit news field. INN partners with a growing slate of educational institutions and nonprofits to connect member newsrooms with rising, talented journalists for summer and fall internships.

Summer and Fall 2021 opportunities for INN members

Columbia Journalism School

Summer and Fall Internships | 2021 application to host deadline for INN members: April 26. Application link and more information 

The Columbia Journalism School Internship and Grants Program will fund internships for up to 29 M.S. and M.A. level graduates from the class of 2021 at INN member news organizations. INN members and CJS interns shared great professional growth experiences and produced strong reporting in 2020, and we are happy to work with CJS to offer the program again this year. CJS interns are graduates with advanced degrees who want to work with members on projects including investigative, data, public service and accountability journalismInternships should be 10 to 12 weeks long and full-time positions beginning between June and October of 2021. Host organizations will be reimbursed up to $8,000 at the end of the internship period after providing documentation. 

The Emma Bowen Foundation

Summer Internships | 2021 application to host deadline for INN members: March 1 Application link Closed for 2021

The Emma Bowen Fellows Program provides multi-year internships to students of color at media companies across the country, along with holistic career support. The undergraduate students work as paid summer interns following their selection as Emma Bowen Foundation Fellows each year through college graduation, gaining significant on-the-job training in their field and making connections with colleagues and mentors. Interns work in the areas of business, content or innovation in media. INN and EBF began partnering in 2018, and INN member newsrooms have since hosted dozens of outstanding interns.

With support from the Democracy Fund, nonprofit news organizations selected to host an EBF intern are reimbursed a significant portion of the interns’ salary, which means INN members hosts are ultimately responsible for less than $3000 (updated) toward intern salary in 2021. Applications for host organizations are open now through March 1, 2020. Please visit the EBF website to learn more, and then reach out to Michael Barham, VP of programs, at michael.barham@nbcuni.com for more information on applying to host.

Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY

Summer Internships | 2021 host application deadline for INN members: February 19
Application link Closed for 2021

The Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY partners with employers to create exclusive summer internships for graduate students. The students are close to completing their master's degrees, and are trained to listen to diverse voices, build relationships with underrepresented communities, and cover their stories with cultural sensitivity. Students come ready to work with a concentration in at least one media format — print, video, broadcast TV, documentary, photo, audio or data journalism. Students in the Spanish-language Journalism program are bilingual and trained to cover and write for Latinx audiences, and the Social Journalism program turns out engagement reporters with skills in social news gathering and verification, listening to community, crowdsourcing, social media tools, design thinking and product development. 

All the MA-level students in this program complete a summer internship, with the school and the nonprofit host news organization both contributing funds toward the intern's stipend. In 2021 the school asks nonprofit partners to contribute $2,000 per student intern. Please contact career.services@journalism.cuny.edu with any questions.

The Dow Jones News Fund

Summer Internships | 2021 host application deadline for INN members: March 1
Application link Closed for 2021

DJNF  interns are diverse, highly motivated, technologically-skilled and eager to use their talents to expand their horizons. DJNF provides training, mentorship and equipment/software (as needed) to facilitate interns working remotely, in-newsroom or a hybrid arrangement, based upon the safest option and best practices in light of the pandemic.

The Dow Jones News Fund seeks nonprofit media partners who can hire summer 2021 interns through its business reporting, data journalism, digital media and multiplatform editing programs. Internships may be remote, hybrid or in-newsroom depending on local safety protocols at the time. DJNF conducts national recruiting, then assesses and trains juniors, seniors and graduate students before they report to work. Outlets commit to pay interns at least $450 per week for 10 to 12 weeks. Top interns are assigned early, so submit requests as soon as possible. For more information, call Heather Taylor at 609-468-0347.