Interested in improving your reporting and news writing skills while getting a taste of life in the nation’s capital? Would you like to cover legislation that affects thousands of journalists across the country, as well as important press freedom and freedom of information court cases? Thanks to a generous grant from College Media Advisers Inc., the Student Press Law Center has one summer 2004 internship position available in its Washington, D.C., area office exclusively for a student journalist whose adviser is a member of College Media Advisers. The internship is open to undergraduate and graduate students with experience in news writing and an interest in media law.Since 1974, the SPLC has been the only national organization devoted exclusively to monitoring the free press rights of high school and college journalists. The Center serves as a source of legal advice and assistance for the student media and the public, providing information on subjects ranging from libel and invasion of privacy to access to records and censorship.Journalism interns at the Student Press Law Center are a crucial component in the work of the SPLC. Interns research, write and help edit the Report, the Center’s thrice-yearly magazine that chronicles student press cases and controversies from around the country. Interns serve as the magazine’s associate editors, soliciting illustrations, planning layout and writing headlines in addition to their primary role of reporting and writing news stories. Interns also write news flashes and analysis pieces for the Center’s popular Web site. Interns have followed the efforts of state legislatures around the country to pass laws protecting high school students’ free press rights and covered landmark litigation by the college and commercial media seeking access to campus crime information. Their stories have ranged from exploring the impact of school violence on students’ free expression rights to antagonism between the student media and the NCAA.But an SPLC internship isn’t all work. Interns join in issue-oriented seminars organized by the SPLC and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. Seminars explore such topics as working with confidential sources, government efforts to regulate the Internet and more. Speakers have included Supreme Court reporter Tony Mauro and members of The Washington Post’s in-house legal counsel staff.Interns also experience life in our nation’s capital, with easy access to the national monuments, the U.S. Supreme Court, the Smithsonian Institution and other public attractions.The College Media Advises Journalism Intern at the SPLC will receive a living expense stipend of $2,300 for a full-time internship. Many interns arrange to receive academic credit from their college or university with the support of the SPLC. To apply for the College Media Advisers Journalism Internship at the SPLC, send a cover letter describing your interest in and qualifications for working with the Student Press Law Center along with a resume, samples of your news writing and the name and telephone number of one professional or academic reference as well as a letter from their adviser confirming that he/she is a member of College Media Advisers and offering his/her support for your application. Applicants are encouraged to send in their materials by March 25 to:Mark Goodman, Executive DirectorStudent Press Law Center1815 N. Fort Myer Drive, Suite 900Arlington, VA 22209-1817
Contact Rebecca Glaser, Outreach Coordinator and Office Manager, admin@splc.org or 703/807-1904.