Spring Intern, Times of San Diego

Newswell•San Diego, CA

2d•Onsite

About The Position

The Times of San Diego, an award-winning digital nonprofit based in one of the country’s major metropolitan cities, is seeking candidates to participate in its spring internship program. This paid internship will give students the opportunity to cover local news, strengthen website production capabilities and expand their social media expertise. The internships can be tailored to the specific students’ skills and interests, and it could include experience covering breaking news, politics, sports; writing features and enterprise stories; overseeing the website; writing headlines and copy editing; managing social media accounts; creating and editing video and audio content; and/or researching and fact checking. Seasoned editors will mentor and coach interns and provide one-on-one editing. The decade-old online publication has 750,000 unique visitors and is located in downtown San Diego with nearby trolley access. It joined NEWSWELL in 2024. NEWSWELL helps newsrooms become nonprofit and for-community. It provides strategic guidance, innovative solutions and wrap-around operations so local journalists can focus on local news, and newsrooms can best serve their communities. NEWSWELL partners with Arizona State University, the nation’s most innovative 11 years in a row, to offer game-changing ideas, tools and research. NEWSWELL transforms local news to help communities and democracy thrive. This is a 14-week, 20-hour per week internship that begins in January and ends in May. The hourly rate for this role is $20.00 Submission Requirements: Please put together a single document file that includes the following, in this order: Your resume (one to two pages) A cover letter that highlights your strengths and explains why you make a strong candidate for the position Links to three to five online samples of your work with one- to two-sentence descriptions for each link. The descriptions should contain details about what you did and how you did it. Please assemble these materials into a single document and upload them in a PDF format.

Requirements

Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including knowledge and ability to apply proper grammar, spelling and punctuation
Strong news writing and editing skills, including familiarity with Associated Press style
Understanding of basic journalism concepts, including libel law and news judgment
Ability to work independently and also within a team environment
Proven track record of professionalism, dependability and punctuality
Knowledge of basic journalism tools, such as familiarity with WordPress, Photoshop, popular social media platforms, etc.
Ability to maintain a high degree of confidentiality and responsibility
Attention to detail and thoroughness in completing assigned duties
Candidates must meet one of the following conditions: 1) a degree-seeking student currently enrolled in a journalism or communications-related program at a college or university who has completed the equivalent of at least one year of college. 2) a degree-seeking graduate student enrolled in a journalism or communications-related program at a college or university. 3) a recent graduate from a journalism or communications-related program at a college or university.

Nice To Haves

Spanish fluency is a plus

Responsibilities

Cover community news and events that matter to local audiences
Seek out unique, audience-driven story ideas and build a beat on a relevant topic
Aggregate breaking news from multiple sources and verify accuracy
Edit, crop and size photos for online publication
Create compelling, SEO-friendly headlines
Analyze public data and contribute to data-driven reporting
Collaborate with editors and reporters to support newsroom operations and editorial planning