Q: I just found your site and am grateful that somebody out there is committed to helping young and aspiring journalists like myself.
I am currently a high school senior with the goal (lofty and somewhat fantastical, I know) of covering the national politics beat for a large daily like the Washington Post, NY Times, LA Times, etc. I will begin college next year to work on a double major in journalism and political science.
I understand the amount of work and time it will take to even come close to reaching my goal and am 110% committed to putting forth that effort.
With this as background, I ask my question. Will I be better served by internships at smaller newspapers, where I will probably get more stories published on more interesting topics, or larger newspapers, where I can meet some people and build contacts that may help me in future job searches as I work my way up the ladder? Also, is it possible to get internships at medium size newspapers without experience? The only dailies in my area have circulations of 415,000 and 93,000. Do 93,000 circulation newspapers hire interns with only campus newspaper experience? And do larger newspapers (300,000 plus) hire interns with only one prior internship at a 93,000 circulation?
I have limited time to be able to do an internship (two internships, I think) because of the many other opportunities that I hope to be involved with. I plan to spend my first summer studying in Spain to broaden my Spanish speaking skills because Spanish fluency is becoming virtually a requirement for newspaper jobs in my city. I plan to spend my sophomore summer interning in Washington to gain an inside perspective of Congress, which will help with my ultimate career goals. My junior summer will be free for a newspaper internship. My free time during the school year will be divided between the campus newspaper (for which I will be required to write at least three stories per week), internships with senators/congressmen in their local offices (required for my political science degree) and a newspaper internship.
Am I stretching myself too thin? Would I be better served by seeking more and/or larger newspaper internships and parting ways with my desire to study in Spain and Washington? Or am I headed down the right path in looking for political internships that will give me a background in a beat that I hope to cover down the road?
Jon
A: You are a man with a plan. But I think you need to give yourself more time. I get the impression that you want to land in a major newsroom when you graduate from college. That may not be possible -- or even desirable. So set your sails for landing a solid job upon graduation. Use that job as a springboard to your ultimate job. You're wise to include professional experience, collegiate experience, travel and language in your plan. But please be alert to surprise opportunities that may be too good to pass up and don't remain fixated on your plan. I get the impression that you would ideally like to work with the two local papers, but there are lots and lots of other papers around the country that could help you out.
I think it will be difficult but not impossible to do a first internship with a 90,000-circulation paper and a second internship above 300,000. Landing those will depend on the quality of your work, of course.
A couple other options to consider: Why don't you see what kind of experience you can get during the summer after high school? Perhaps that could be a first internship at a small paper. Another possibility: You say you want to be in Spain after your first year and in Washington after your sophomore year. Could those summers be spent simultaneously doing journalism and learning Spanish or about politics?
But what am I saying? Your schedule is already packed! You're contagious!
Just adjust your plan so that your wind up getting to a capital correspondent's job early, even though it may not be the day after you graduate.
