Summer 2010 internship program in San Francisco

Summer Reporting Intern Program in San Francisco

SF Public Press is looking for motivated summer intern candidates who are interested in reporting, photography,

audio, video and multimedia. Interns will produce original news content and will receive mentorship and training. 

The Public Press is a local startup nonprofit 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 instead of

advertising. Currently operated mostly by volunteers, SF Public Press is not yet in a position to pay its interns.

PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS:We are looking for highly skilled interns who have previous experience

with newspapers, newspaper-style journalism or editorial websites, demonstrate the ability to grasp complex, fastmoving

news stories, can ask tough questions of important people and can produce clean copy conforming to AP

style on deadline. The internship program is for a minimum of eight weeeks; start and end dates are flexible.

• Interns receiving class credit. Interns who want class credit for their work at SF Public Press must fulfill

the internship requirements outlined by their schools. Interns must provide these requirements before they

begin their internships. Summer interns must commit to working at least 16 hours per week, and strong

preference will be given to those who can commit to at least 32 hours a week through the summer.

• Interns not receiving class credit. Summer interns who work at SF Public Press, but are not eligible for

class credit, must commit to working at least 16 hours per week.

ACTIVITIES: Interns and volunteers participate in:

• General assignment and project reporting.Work on breaking general assignment stories as well as longerterm

projects, with an emphasis on under-covered but important stories that affect communities ill served by

the commercial press. The Public Press is committed to producing contextual, consequential and balanced

reporting. Reporters are encouraged to pitch stories and participate in our weeklyWednesday morning news

meetings.

• Web production, editing and daily news summaries. Help monitor a wide variety of local news sources for

information that helps the community understand complex and important issues.Write daily news roundups,

contribute to the project blog and help produce the monthly newsletter.

• Skill building and career development sessions. Participate in regular training 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 provide educational and career guidance.

APPLICATION PROCESS AND DEADLINE: Summer intern candidates should send a résumé, cover letter

and three examples of their work to internships [AT] sfpublicpress.org no later than Friday,May 8. Please

describe your journalism experience, familiarity with San Francisco, topics of interest, technology and media skills

and the dates and times you are available. Interns selected for the summer program will be notified of their

acceptance no later thanWednesday,May 20. SF Public Press also welcomes interns and volunteers interested

in our community engagement initiative (called SF Engage), nonprofit development, marketing andWeb

production and development. If your experience or interests head in this direction, please send an e-mail

specifying your area of interest to internships [AT] sfpublicpress.org. For questions, contact Project Director

Michael Stoll at mstoll [AT] publicpress.org or (415) 495-7377