How publishers should approach creating and running a successful media internship program

Identifying and combating fake news, recognizing various forms of misinformation and disinformation, promoting digital safety practices, fostering critical thinking skills, mastering reverse image searches, conducting website and social media account analyses, leveraging geolocation techniques, and mastering the art of crafting compelling fact-check articles – these are just a few topics covered by a fact-checking internship program tailored for media students in 2023 by the Indian fact-checker, Telugupost, said Satya Priya, the editor of the program.

In the current challenging media business environment, not only fact-checking organisations, but many other media outlets are looking to launch internship programs as a way to gain new and motivated members of staff who bring new perspectives and skills. In addition, a successful internship program might help smaller media outlets who often struggle with the lack of human and financial resources. This was the way how an independent rural Hungarian media outlet Debreciner found new and dedicated young colleagues. On the other hand, internships are able to provide a meaningful experience for young people, often still students, that might enhance their future employability.

When creating an internship program, it is important to be thoughtful about the goals and what the specific media outlet has to offer to interns. Detailed planning of the time and the tasks are necessary when setting up the milestones: deadlines for training and deliverables. The time frame of an internship program might vary and depends on many factors but most media outlets prefer a shorter version, between 3 to 6 months. 

Having a person in charge of the interns is crucial not just to building a program, but to running it in a smooth way. The coordinator of the program is the person who ensures that both the outlet and the interns are getting the most out of the experience while the interns are having a collective learning experience. The good news for small media outlets is that the internship coordinator position does not need to be a separate full-time position. Someone having good organisational skills and some free capacities can manage it.

The coordinator is in charge of organising the selection of the interns. Similarly to the length of the internship, the selection method is also varied. There are media outlets where applicants just need to send a CV and a letter of intent, and that forms the basis for the selection, especially if there aren't too many interested people, while in other cases applicants are interviewed before the outlet is hiring them. In fact, in some places like at the Polish fact-checking organisation Stowarzyszenie Demagog, the candidates needed to solve a short task before they were invited for interviews.

This is a crucial point and this needs to be clear when the call for applicants is opened and published. The best practice of internships run by media outlets is that interns should be paid. Paying interns will allow access to talented candidates who may otherwise have not applied. Besides, paying interns makes them feel appreciated and part of the team and it might make them work harder. Getting paid is especially important in the countries where media outlets are not only under financial but political pressure too. If organisations do not pay interns, it probably means that the program can attract only those young people whose parents can financially support their kids. The lesson here is that if interns are doing real work, they shall be paid!

It also varies how interns are trained. Some media outlets run intensive training at the beginning of the program and some places have training throughout the duration of the whole internship. It is very important to introduce the interns to the work of the editorial and, where possible, involve them in the regular work of the team. This is easier for smaller outlets, while for larger outlets interns work in a designated area, but it is still important for everyone that interns understand how the media outlet operates. Knowing and understanding the context is always helpful for a future journalist.

Setting goals for interns and revisiting their progress throughout their time with the media outlet is another important step in their development. In general, interns often work on a limited number of articles or projects, depending on the length of their internship. The key of success here is tracking their progress and making sure there is a defined beginning, middle and end to their work. It is really nice for an intern to feel like they started to work on a project and completed it, as opposed to them feeling like they have been working on something and they never get to see it through to the end.

Strong and regular communication is a key element for delivering a successful internship program. Therefore providing a mentor, potentially individually, means giving interns an opportunity for personalized feedback on their works and matters that extend beyond their work. Mentorship is a way to hone professional skills and learn invaluable lessons from someone with years of practical knowledge in the field of journalism.

Mentors can promote professional growth and development in regular meetings and one part of their role is to create a relaxed environment and relationship with the interns as they might have questions that they would not feel comfortable asking their editors. Or they simply might need extra help that is not so easy to receive in a smaller outlet due to lack of time and human resources. 

It is important to make sure that the internship program has some structure set up – regular meetings and weekly or monthly schedule – so interns are constantly receiving feedback and they are on track with their tasks and the internship’s goals. This is an important step in providing a personalised experience, but it is also crucial for those who run the program – the internship coordinator and the mentors. With regular feedback, the outlet can get the right kind of work from the intern. And deadlines are key in journalism – these are also milestones of the whole program.

Once the internship program comes to an end, it is worth maintaining connection with the former interns – even if the outlet can’t hire the best interns immediately after closing the program. Staying in touch with interns acts as proactive networking and keeping in contact means that the outlet might be able to provide the opportunity to reconnect in the future. But the best case scenario – if the financial means are available – is obviously to hire the interns who proved themselves. They already know the organisation and the workflow. 

In general, a good internship program acts as a training ground for young people and it could help them in their job search to find full-time or part-time employment at another organisation if the internship provider outlet is not able to offer a job for everyone who successfully completed the program.

With the right program, young people can learn and develop. By developing the right program and working with experienced colleagues and other interns, an inexperienced journalist could one day become the editor-in-chief of the outlet where she started. 

Source of the cover photo:: fauxels via Pexels