Digital Design/Development Intern, Summer 2026

Hearst Communications • San Francisco, CA

72d • $19

About The Position

The San Francisco Chronicle is seeking motivated students and recent graduates interested in pursuing careers in visual, product and UI/UX design, visual storytelling and coding/development for journalism. The Chronicle's design team is a multidisciplinary group responsible for elevating the newsroom's most ambitious journalism. We are a diverse group of designers, illustrators, graphics/data reporters and developers of varied backgrounds. Our projects range from crafting design systems for lines of coverage to piecing together immersive storytelling approaches for longform narratives and investigative reports. Recent successes include an Online Journalism Award-winning project on the impact of the World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans on San Francisco's Japantown and the extremely successful relaunch of our list of Top 100 Restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area that we rebranded and redesigned with new product features and audience strategies. We also contributed to two investigations - "The Right to Remain Secret" and "Fast and Fatal" - that were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize in 2025. Our interns have worked on a variety of projects depending on their interests and emerging skillsets. A more coding-focused intern helped create tools to make it easier for other members of the team to produce bespoke, custom-coded projects. Another designed unique visualizations for a story on how winter storms impacted areas around Northern California's Feather River. You may find yourself creating motion graphics, static and/or interactive information graphics, page designs or new components, such as a better video player over the course of your internship. Prior interns have gone on to internships or full-time jobs at the Chronicle (and its sister publications or groups in Hearst Newspapers), The Pudding, the Seattle Times, the Texas Tribune, the New York Times and the Washington Post. We welcome applicants of all backgrounds.

Requirements

• Must be a college junior, senior or recent graduate at time of application
• Must have an interest in journalism and/or design demonstrated by coursework or practical experience at student publications or professional internships
• Must be able to work in the Chronicle's San Francisco office at least three days a week.
• You should have a basic understanding of HTML and CSS.

Nice To Haves

• Basic reporting and writing for accuracy, brevity and clarity
• News design techniques
• Visual, UI/UX and/or product design, including typography, color and grid
• Ability to use the Adobe Creative Suite and Figma
• Development experience with HTML, CSS, Javascript and React, with version management via Git and GitHub
• News tools such as ArchieML and AI2HTML
• Data reporting and analysis via Python (preferred) or R
• Data visualization via DataWrapper or D3
• Three.js
• Illustration
• Animation/motion
• Video
• Social media design

Responsibilities

• Participate in brainstorming and design sprints for newsroom projects
• Execute assignments via reporting, writing, designing and/or coding as needed
• Communicate effectively with collaborators within the newsroom
• Manage the production process for your projects

Benefits

• Interns are paid $19.18 per hour.
• Interns work 40 hours a week from Monday through Friday.
• Weekly check-in with your supervisor to talk through your work, your internship and your career goals.
• Mentorship matching based on interests.

What This Job Offers

• Career Level: Intern
• Industry: Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services
• Education Level: Bachelor's degree
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees