The Washington Post Newsroom Summer Paid Internship for Young Professionals 2020

The Washington Post is now accepting applications for the 2020 Summer Internship Program.

The Washington Post was founded in 1877 and owned by the Meyer-Graham family from 1933 to 2013, when Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos bought the company. The Post has won more than 60 Pulitzer Prizes and has more than tripled its digital audience since Bezos bought it.

Come be a reporter, photographer, videographer, multiplatform editor or producer, news and digital designer, graphics reporter and developer, social media producer, audio producer or editorial writer.

2020 Eligibility

• You must be a college junior, senior or graduate student enrolled in a degree program by the application deadline date.
• You must have had at least one professional news media job or internship.

Roles for interns

• Reporters: Clear, concise, energetic writing is highly valued. Conventional coverage of news events should be demonstrated, but a higher value is placed upon enterprise reporting that shows creative, inventive or investigative skills. Writing for the web is also highly valued. Please indicate your reporting assignment preference: General Assignments (includes National and Health & Science sections), Foreign (assignments will be in the Washington newsroom), Arts, Entertainment and Culture, Local, Sports or Editorial (will be assigned to the Opinions section). No more than three clips.
• Visual Journalists: For digital photographers, candidates must be proficient in Photoshop CS, photo management software, and Mac and PC platforms. Your application must include a portfolio. Videographers must be proficient in all aspects of digital video/audio and editing software, including Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere. Experience with voiceover narration and HTML is helpful. Required portfolio must be attached. Please indicate your assignment preference: Photography or Video.
• Multiplatform Editors: Successful editors must be able to edit for multiple platforms, writing headlines that are tailored for print and digital audiences. Editors must also have a keen understanding of style, grammar and sentence structure, and must be able to edit for clarity. We also value editors who can detect problems in stories and work with others to make them better. Writing captions for photo galleries, proofing pages and the ability to work calmly under intense deadlines are also requirements, as is strong news judgment. Include up to six examples of news or feature stories you have edited, preferably files that include a headline and caption(s) for web or print.
• Multiplatform Producers: The producer will be responsible for updating the web and mobile sites with fresh content and making sure article pages have critical web elements. We are looking for interns with solid news judgment, the ability to write smart headlines and blurbs and experience at packaging web stories, photo galleries and videos. An ideal candidate also will be adept at analyzing traffic data and web trends, understanding search engine optimization, be a quick and effective problem solver and be able to quickly learn to use new web publishing tools.
• News and Digital Designers: The designers craft the visual presentations of our content across platforms. We are looking for interns capable of creating innovative storytelling presentations and then tailoring them to all of our platforms. A candidate must be a strong visual designer, able to work well on deadline and have experience working well with photography and video. They should be proficient in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Photoshop, and InDesign. Send a portfolio that includes five examples of your digital design work. The portfolio should be contained in one PDF or link on your application form.
• Graphics Reporters and Developers: The graphics reporters and developers tell visual stories and present data on the web. A candidate should be able to utilize the entire storytelling toolbox — writing, reporting, charting, coding, mapping and data visualization — and know how to weave it all together to tell engaging stories. The candidate will create, or assist in creating, news applications such as data-driven maps, databases, social media apps, widgets and mobile tools that will either stand alone or be paired with other digital content. They will work closely with reporters and editors in the newsroom, either through mining existing data on the web, taking in feeds, or working with digital producers to imagine new ways to present information. They will work with the design and development team to indicate, design and help develop tools digital producers can use to enhance engagement. Candidates must be proficient in CSS(3), HTML(5), JQuery, JavaScript and must have experience in developing with databases, XML, JSON, PHP and/or Django. Send a portfolio that includes five to 10 examples of your work. The portfolio should be contained in one PDF or link on your application form.
• Social Media Producers: The producers foster engaging and useful conversation on washingtonpost.com and social media platforms including newsletters. We are looking for students who have an ability to identify and participate in online communities, big and small. Familiarity with web publishing and basic HTML is required. Please send at least one sample of an online discussion you’ve led and include links to your personal social media handles and/or accounts you have managed. The most successful candidates live and breathe the Internet and can write well, too.
• Audio Producers: The producer helps record, write and edit audio stories for long-form and short-form podcasts, and works collaboratively with reporters and editors to find and bring to life Post reporting. The ideal candidate has a background in sound design, audio production or both. Our producers combine traditional journalistic skills with creative approaches to telling stories through sound. We also value a producer who brings creative approaches to promotion and community-building. Proficiency in either Adobe Audition or Pro Tools is required. Please include three links to audio clips with your application.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should Click Here to Apply

What is the application deadline?

We are accepting applications for the 2020 Summer Internship program through Noon EDT Oct. 9th, 2019.

Is there an age requirement?

You must be a college junior, senior or graduate student enrolled in a degree program by the application deadline date.

What prior experience is needed?

Applicants must have had at least one previous professional news media job or internship.

Can a foreign citizen apply?

Foreign citizens can apply for internships. All work samples must be submitted in English. If selected, the necessary documentation for obtaining the proper U.S work visa must be provided.

Are interns paid?

Yes. It is our policy to pay everyone who works for us, including interns. For summer 2019, the salary was $750 per week.

What do interns actually do?

Our interns report and write articles, edit copy, take photographs, shoot and edit video, create graphics and design on multiple platforms. We treat them as staff members during their employment.

Does The Washington Post assist in finding summer housing?

We can point you in the right direction, but interns are responsible for their own housing arrangements. Classified ads and apartment listings are the place to begin your search. We give each intern a subscription to the electronic version of The Washington Post for six weeks before the internship begins to aid in the hunt for housing. Craigslist is also a good resource, as is Washington Intern Student Housing (WISH).

Do interns need cars?

It is preferred that reporting interns have a car available for their use during the internship, but exceptions can be made and reporting interns must have valid driver’s license. All interns must provide their own transportation to and from work.

How soon will I hear whether I’ve been selected?

For the 2020 Newsroom Summer Internship application, final selections will be made and e-mail notifications will be sent by Nov. 29, 2019.

Still have questions?

Send an e-mail to newsinterns@washpost.com, but be warned that if you ask a question that has been covered here, it will count against you!