News Reporting, Legal, Outreach-Social Media, Advocacy Interns
Are you passionate about public policy and follow all local and global news stories faithfully? If so, you may be the perfect fit as an intern at the Student Press Law Center. SPLC is a non-profit legal assistance agency located in Washington, D.C., devoted to educating high school and college journalists about First Amendment rights, providing free and legal advice to students, and overall supporting student news media. Interning at SPLC is all about hard work, but also about real experiences that extend outside of the office and into the free world.
What it’s actually like
What’s cooler than helping educate students while also being a student intern? SPLC interns get the unique opportunity to tailor their work to their interests. These specializations range from news reporting, legal work (reserved for law school students), building awareness as a social media intern, or working on advocacy projects. Students get real-world experience working on issues, an invaluable opportunity for anyone interested in law and journalism.
Cool stuff you get to do
Reporting interns write and help edit The Report (SPLC’s magazine) and focus on more data-driven law cases around the country. Legal interns get the opportunity to work on briefs with attorneys. Outreach-Social Media interns help manage SPLC’s public persona through popular social media sites, and Advocacy interns are a new addition to the company as they work in the development stages of today’s important issues.
What you’ll learn
Aside from how to make a good cup of Joe, an internship at SPLC will teach you a lot of great skills in navigating the journalistic world. “The main thing they’ll get to do is hands-on work. Researching, reporting, editing, learning how to read a complaint, and becoming an expert at state-level and federal-level reporting, are just a few of the many skills you’ll collect.” – Mark Keierleber, Publications Fellow at SPLC
How to prepare for the application
Show SPLC what you’ve done, and what you plan on doing. “Show us that you actually have a passion and interest in student media and rights education. What have you done to prepare for work in this field?” – Mark Keierleber, Publications Fellow at SPLC
Skills that impress them
All that time spent tracking down stories for your college newspaper may just be worth it. “We take internship experience as a big plus. Whether it be working at a local newspaper, college radio station or a college magazine, the skills from these positions show that you have interest in what we do and you’re knowledgeable.” – Mark Keierleber, Publications Fellow at SPLC
Cool perks
That office life isn’t for everybody. Lucky for SPLC interns, they get to experience law in action. “We’ve had groups of interns visit the White House, go to hearings, attend free speech events, and even listen to attorneys talk at schools like Georgetown.” – Mark Keierleber, Publications Fellow at SPLC
The deets
There’s at least two full-time internships per semester with living expense stipends of $3,500 (summer) and $4,000 (spring and fall semesters). There’s also one unpaid, part-time position for a D.C.-area college student in the fall and spring terms.
Send over a cover letter showing authentic interest, a resume, samples of your news writing, and two professional or academic references to: [email protected]
Ready to start your career journey by nailing that summer internship? Check out four steps that make it easy here.
Need Interns?
Submit your internship opportunity here.
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