Internships and Training Programs

Inception of Journalism Internships

The newsroom historically has been the site of news work, and before the advent of journalism studies in higher education in the 20th century, apprenticeships served to train journalists in the expectations and practices of the profession. As universities began to offer classes and degrees in journalism, aspects of training moved into the classroom. However, educators and newsroom editors still found value in learning by doing. In 1958, the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund was established to provide students with newsroom training, in order to strengthen journalism education and improve the quality of graduates entering the [Page 859]field. Still in operation, the Fund provides 10-week paid internships to students from dozens of universities. In turn, other news organizations established their own internship or correspondent programs, often awarded on a competitive basis, to students and recent graduates.

Newsroom internships provide acculturation to journalism practices. Interns observe and learn and are ideally provided with mentorship and guidance from experienced journalists and editors. Interns gain experience by performing basic or routine newsgathering functions and having their work published or broadcast. Student interns are able to put into real-world practice the journalism concepts taught in classrooms and work to build their professional portfolios, which they later use in pursuit of jobs. Research has indicated that completing journalism internships has been associated with speedy postgraduation employment and higher starting salaries. In higher education, journalism programs routinely encourage students to intern in the field. Demographic data collected by the Annual Survey of Journalism and Mass Communication Graduates, conducted by the University of Georgia, routinely indicate that more than three quarters of journalism students graduate with a completed media internship. In addition, some university journalism programs require students to complete internships.

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