Posted On: August 7, 2014

Journalism Internship

Media Organization: Straus News

Company Description

Straus News publishes 14 local weekly newspapers and associated websites in contiguous towns in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Straus News' newspapers include Our Town, The West Side Spirit, Our Town Downtown, Chelsea Clinton News, The Westsider in Manhattan.

Our newspapers and websites focus on local issues that matter to people's everyday lives, from concerns about schools and infrastructure spending to who's who in town and soccer scores. We pride ourselves on our commitment to reporting the tough local stories while highlighting the success and achievements in our neighborhoods.

The newspapers have won numerous awards for news coverage and editorial and advertising excellence, including first place for in-depth reporting from the Suburban Newspaper Association for a series about heroin addiction entitled "High in Sussex County," and a prestigious National Education Writers Award for "Middle School Principal Tests Boundaries with Home Visit."

The newspapers are distributed to more than 150,000 homes each week.

Job Description

Editorial interns work on our Manhattan weekly newspapers, the West Side Spirit, Our Town and Our Town Downtown, covering local neighborhood news on the Upper West Side, Upper East Side and downtown, out of our Manhattan office on 7th Avenue in Chelsea.

Interns work closely with editorial staff and attend weekly story meetings. Intern duties include compiling event listings, helping research investigative stories, conducting "man-on-the-street" reporting, taking news photographs, helping with copyediting occasionally, and reporting and writing profiles, news briefs, and other stories. Our interns have published front-page news stories and get help every step of the way from pitching stories, developing them, reporting and research, and writing and re-writing.

We require at least 2 full days for most internships, as we feel that any less time does not allow students to gain the experience needed to really be a part of our process. Days and times are flexible, however.

To Apply

Please email Megan Bungeroth at editor.otdt@strausnews.com with the subject line "Fall internship application." Include a brief cover letter detailing your specific interest in local journalism and your availability (potential starting date as well as days/times available) for the fall. Please also attach a resume and writing samples/clips, or send links to online clips in the body of the email.