Paid internships are being offered to college students this summer by the Board of the Society of Professional Journalists SPJ, Hawaii Chapter. The internships are for students interested in a journalistic writing or broadcast career who either are Hawaii residents attending college who graduated from a Hawaiian high school, or a student of any background going to college in Hawaii.
Eligible applicants have completed their sophomore year in college no later than June 2016, and recent graduates who wish to participate cannot have graduated earlier than May 2015.
Craig DeSilva, former member of the board of the SPJ, is coordinating the internship program and said, “This is a good opportunity for students to actually have real life experience working in the news room. In journalism, it is very hard to break into the business without any experience. Having a bank of articles on your resume you wrote during your internship that have been published is extremely helpful in getting a job.”
According to DeSilva, “Interns can expect to be treated like every other employee. This isn’t a position where interns will be getting coffee, filing papers, or doing any other menial task that is stereotypical of an internship.”
Interns will be part of the editorial process as they meet with the rest of the writers and editors to create content, DeSilva said.
Writers will be assigned stories just like at any other writer at a magazine or newspaper, DeSilva continued.
For those brought on by a T.V. station, interns will be given assignments to go out and interview people at events, write news articles and possibly even scripts for news anchors and reporters to read, said DeSilva.
“They will be covering fires, murders, and everything else the news will cover,” said DeSilva, “We’ve had interns on their first day go to a news conference and interview the governor.”
Jeremy Moncur, a former BYUH student from Kahuku was accepted to be a public relations intern for Alexander & Baldwin and was chiefly responsible for writing the biographies and introductions for people who had been hired by the company, he said.
Moncur said he also assisted with community outreach programs, special recognition and anniversary parties, community tours, and was flown to other islands about once a month for various company and community events.
“I think [I was chosen] because they had this public relations opening and I was coming in with a business background, whereas most of the applicants were trying to get into the journalism side of things. In my case it helped to be in the minority who was interested in public relations,” said Moncur.
DeSilva said a lot of interns end up being brought on to work full time after their internship, providing them with their first real job in the media world.
This also gives them a chance to meet a lot of people in the news and media business, possibly presenting opportunities for future employment both in Hawaii and on the mainland, according to DeSilva.
Taylor Polson, a senior from Colorado studying international cultural studies who plans on working in the media, said, “I think your coworkers would become mentors to you to help you know which path to take and help you know who you want to be.”
The SPJ is offering 11 full-time internships where interns will be expected to work 40 hours a week for 10 weeks and will receive a $3,600 salary. Two part-time internships are also available where interns will work for 27 hours a week for eight weeks and will receive be paid $2,106. For anyone interested in applying, visit www.hawaiispj.org to fill out an online application form.
Once the form is completed, write a cover letter introducing yourself and explaining why you want an internship, list your relevant coursework or news media experience, and include three references with their contact information.
Also attach examples of previous media work which DeSilva said can include, “articles that have been published in your school newspaper, or some video you have done for your video class or a media program. That’s the big thing. That’s what they look for. Students will turn in class [writing] assignments, and I will usually tell them that it’s better than nothing, but it’s not what’s going to get them selected.”
Send all materials labeled with your name to spjinterns@gmail.com by Feb. 28.You will be contacted directly by the news media if they wish to interview you for an internship. If you are a candidate, you will be contacted by April 1.
For more information, visit www.hawaiispj.org or email Craig DeSilva at cdesilva@hotmail.com.