The Santa Barbara Independent’s Internship Program
For more than two decades, The Santa Barbara Independent has been a place for people interested in pursuing a journalism career to get their feet wet, learn the ins and outs of reporting, and publish their first stories in an award-winning metropolitan newspaper. In recent years, this tradition has expanded dramatically to include Independent.com, which is considered one of the nation’s best weekly newspaper websites.
The internship allows emerging journalists to conduct practical journalism — from daily deadline reporting and feature writing to arts reviewing, investigative research, and multimedia projects — in a buzzing 21st century newsroom, where professional writers, editors, and photographers are more than happy to share their knowledge. Many former interns are now staff writers and editors, and some have gone on to write for such publications as Time, National Geographic Explorer, Smithsonian, the Los Angeles Times, and the San Francisco Chronicle, among others.
So what’s it take to be an Indy intern? Here’s a rundown:
Length of internship: 12 weeks, hours varying from 6 to 20 per week, depending on availability. Hours can include work conducted both inside the office and from home.
Payment: There is no pay for this internship, just experience, bylines, and the occasional freebie.
Types of internships:
Newsroom Intern: Newsroom interns are responsible for reporting and writing articles for the weekly newspaper and Independent.com. Interns are expected to complete between one and five articles per week, depending on length and availability. There are also research assignments and note-taking adventures, as well as opportunities to photograph, videotape, and audiotape for the website. Limited to five interns per period. Contact the news department at news@independent.com.
Court Reporting Intern: Court reporting interns must be available to work for entire eight-hour shifts, preferably two per week. The work involves attending trials, taking notes, and writing brief articles or segments of longer stories on what transpired. Limited to two interns per period. Contact the news department at news@independent.com.
Arts Intern: Arts interns are responsible for reporting and writing about one to three arts-related stories per week for the website and, occasionally, the printed newspaper. This could include interviews with musicians, reviews of performances, CD criticism, etc. Limited to one intern per period. Contact the arts department at arts@independent.com.
Calendar Intern: Calendar interns work directly for our listings editor, and assist in the processing of the hundreds of events submitted each week to be published in the newspaper and on the website. This position involves more administrative work than the other internships, and is a good place for people interested in the behind-the-scenes aspects of newspaper publishing. Limited to one intern per period. Contact the arts department at arts@independent.com.
Website Intern: Web interns help our webmaster and web content manager better organize, categorize, and update online content. Basic understanding of websites and HTML coding required. Contact webteam@independent.com.
Photography Intern: Not usually available, but a photo intern works for our photo editor and takes assignments to shoot various places, people, and events around town. Contact the news department at news@independent.com.
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