12 Journalism Internships for High School Students
If you are a high school student keen on pursuing journalism, it’s a good idea to consider an internship to better understand the possibilities and how the industry works. Journalism is very wide, and often differs a lot based on the medium of reporting – from print to digital and TV. Being a journalist becomes a way of life, and because of how big a commitment it is, it doesn’t hurt to intern for a bit and see if it’s the right fit for you. Internships will give you practical experience and insight into the field, while you build the research, reporting, and writing skills necessary for journalism.
This experience will further sharpen your resume and portfolio, showing your initiative and interest to admissions officers when you apply to college. Several journalism internships are open to high school students, with many of them also offering coursework in addition to hands-on work. To help you get started, we’ve compiled a list of 12 journalism internships for high school students that can give your career a boost.
1. Ladder Internships - Journalism Track
Location: Virtual. You can work from anywhere in the world!
Eligibility: High school students, undergraduates, and gap year students who can contribute 5-15 work hours per week for 8-16 weeks
Application Deadline: Spring cohort: February 18, 2024 | Summer cohort (early admission): February 18, 2024 | Summer cohort (regular admission): April 14, 2024. Fall and winter cohorts are also available.
Dates: Varies according to cohort. Summer cohorts run in June-August.
Cost: $1,990 (financial aid is available)
Founded by Harvard scholars, the Ladder Internships program annually accepts 100 applicants, pairing them with startups and nonprofits across the world. Some of these organizations include Softenmind, JuneBrain, IPMD, Fair Opportunity Project, and Billion Dollar Startup Ideas. Students in the program can choose the industry and field they wish to intern in – such as media or journalism. Companies are spread across tech, computer science, business development, healthcare tech and more.
As a Ladder intern, you will work closely with your startup manager, and with a Ladder coach who will help you navigate the professional environment. You will work on a project that’s of genuine importance to the organization, and present your work at the end of the program. This internship includes 1-on-1 sessions with your mentor, training sessions and soft skill development.
2. Princeton Summer Journalism Program (PSJP)
Location: Hybrid (virtual + on-site at the Emma Bloomberg Center for Access and Opportunity, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ)
Eligibility: High school juniors in the U.S. from a low-income background who have an unweighted 3.5/4.0 GPA can apply.
Application Deadline: February 15, 2024
Dates: July 2024 - August 2024 (around 5 weeks)
Cost: Free. All housing, food, transportation, and equipment costs will be covered for the on-site portion of the program.
This program is perfect for students keen on political journalism. A highly selective and prestigious program, PSJP admits only up to 40 students in its annual cohort. It offers high achievers from low-income families a free residential journalism and college prep program where they will study politics and current affairs, learn from Princeton professors and journalists, and collaborate with a college advisor. Students will take part in a summer intensive that includes virtual and on-campus workshops and lectures led by program graduates and journalists from publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, New York Magazine, The Daily Beast, Politico, and CNN, among others.
The program will conclude with its 10-day residential program, at the end of which students will publish the Princeton Summer Journal. The website provides last year’s publications that interested students can go through.
3. L.A. Times High School Insider Internship
Location: Hybrid (online on Thursday + L.A. Times office, El Segundo, CA on Monday-Wednesday). The on-site internship is a commuter program.
Eligibility: High school students graduating in 2024, 2025, or 2026 can apply.
Application Deadline: February 19, 2024
Dates: June 17, 2024 - August 2, 2024 (24 hours a week for 7 weeks)
Stipend: $16.90 per hour
As an L.A. Times High School Insider intern, students will pursue multiple aspects of journalism, such as covering breaking news, generating feature stories, and experimenting with multimedia storytelling. Students will receive the guidance of mentors in the form of workshops and training sessions, and learn how to create engaging stories. Interns will be responsible for contacting sources, scheduling interviews, drafting stories using multiple formats, revising their stories based on the feedback of editors, and meeting tight deadlines.
This internship is highly selective – the 2023 program only accepted 7 students.
4. National Student Leadership Conference (NSLC)’s Journalism Program
Location: American University, Washington D.C.
Eligibility: All high school students
Application Deadline: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
Dates: June 13, 2024 - June 21, 2024 | June 25, 2024 - July 3, 2024
Cost: $3,995 (includes housing, campus meals, trips, tours, activities, academic expenses, and course materials)
Financial Aid: Need and merit-based scholarships are available.
At the NSLC Journalism Program, students will focus on the techniques of broadcasting, newswriting, and investigative reporting by taking workshops and attending lectures on branding, investigating, interviewing, reporting, and pitching. Students will be divided into small teams and go through the entire news cycle from the development of a story to its publication. Students will interact with internationally recognized media outlets and access professional studio equipment, to build fundamental journalism skills and learn the importance of accurate writing and reporting through a simulation of a fast-paced newsroom.
Students can choose their focus tracks from options like broadcast journalism, entertainment journalism, and newswriting and investigative reporting. Additionally, the program structure includes trips and tours as well as interactions with guest speakers. The NSLC has brought esteemed guest speakers, including multiple Pulitzer Prize winners and current reporters and writers at reputable news outlets such as Washington Post and ESPN. A list of previous guest speakers can be found here!
5. Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) Summer Journalism Workshop
Location: Columbia University campus, New York, NY / Virtual
Eligibility: Rising sophomore, junior, or senior high school students
Application Deadline: Applications will open soon. The deadline is yet to be announced.
Dates: June 23, 2024 - June 28, 2024 (on-site) | July 8, 2024 - July 12, 2024 (virtual) | July 15, 2024 - July 19, 2024 (virtual) | July 22 - July 26, 2024 (virtual)
Cost: To be decided. Previous workshops ranged from $900 to $1,600 based on virtual and on-site (commuter or residential) options.
Financial Aid: Need-based scholarships are available.
The CSPA Summer Journalism Workshop offers sessions that focus on reporting and writing, editorial leadership, design, photojournalism, and digital media. However, note that the offerings for the on-site and virtual sessions will differ, so make sure you check before applying. Students will learn about the entire editorial cycle from industry experts and reporters while also drafting their own news stories.
Further information will be available on the website soon, so remember to keep checking it!
6. AAJA’s JCamp Summer Program
Location: Austin, TX
Eligibility: Current high school sophomores and juniors
Application Deadline: March 1, 2024
Dates: August 3, 2024 - August 9, 2024 (6 days)
Cost: Free. All tuition, lodging, domestic transportation, baggage fees, and meals are covered.
AAJA’s JCamp Summer Program is catered towards culturally diverse high school students. The program, while not structured like a traditional internship, will entail hands-on training sessions and classes taught by reputable and established journalists and media executives, with a focus on communication, ethics, self-confidence, connections, diversity, and leadership. Students will work on the production of multimedia news stories (broadcasting, magazines, newspapers, online media, and photojournalism) that will then be published on JCamp Live. Students can further expect field trips and interactive workshops.
The program is highly selective and is only accepting around 30 students in 2024.
7. Harvard Crimson’s Summer Crimson Internship Program
Location: 14 Plympton Street, Cambridge, MA
Eligibility: All high school students are eligible to apply
Application Deadline: March 31, 2024
Dates: June 12, 2024 - July 26, 2024
Cost/Stipend: Free of cost. Note that this is an unpaid internship with no assistance provided for housing and transportation.
The Harvard Crimson is Harvard University’s daily college newspaper. Founded in 1873, the paper is well-established and reputed, and is run by students attending Harvard University. Harvard Crimson offers a Summer Crimson internship program for a limited number of highly qualified high school students who are interested in journalism and the business of publishing. Interns will work either in the newsroom or the business department and will be taught by the reporting and business staff of the newspaper that include its experienced editors.
8. Medill-Northwestern Journalism Institute
Location: Northwestern University campus, Evanston, IL
Eligibility: Rising high school seniors are eligible to apply
Application Deadline: March 11, 2024
Dates: June 23, 2024 - July 19, 2024 (4 weeks)
Cost: $5,000 (includes tuition, field trips, group activities, housing, and meals)
Financial Aid: Need-based aid and scholarships are available.
Only 84 students are accepted into the Medill-Northwestern Journalism Institute every year. You learn from accomplished journalists and university professors and gain practical experience in journalism. The program culminates with you creating a body of work on a topic of your choice! You will be assigned a specific instructor who will be your mentor throughout the program. You also gain the opportunity to experience various media reporting types, from print to digital and broadcast. Moreover, you experiment with writing, reporting, editing, and creating digital media. With access to high-quality equipment, the program provides you with the chance to independently create a quality body of work, which can add significant value if showcased in your application!
9. City Limit’s CLARIFY Program
Location: CUNY Brooklyn or CUNY York college campus, NY / Virtual
Eligibility: NYC juniors, seniors, and graduating seniors are eligible
Application Deadline: The applications for spring 2024 cohorts will open soon, followed by the summer 2024 applications. Keep checking the Apply page to find out the dates.
Dates: To be announced. The summer 2023 program took place for 10 days in July.
Stipend: $500
City Limits, NYC’s oldest non-profit investigative news agency, launched the City Limits Accountability Reporting Initiative for Youth (CLARIFY) in 2014 to empower the youth and train students in public service journalism. Interns are trained in the essential tenets of reporting and news writing. Selected interns will receive training in interviewing, investigating, ethics, photojournalism, reporting, and news writing and will collaborate with instructors to publish their work in City Limits.
Students will work with City Limit’s reporters and focus on locally relevant news stories. In Fall 2023, for instance, interns worked on a reporting project about Mayor Eric Adams’ work and progress in the area of housing. Read the previous articles by CLARIFY alums here!
10. Summer Media Academy at the University of Georgia
Location: Grady College of Journalism, University of Georgia campus, Athens, GA
Eligibility: Students aged 13-17 at the start of the program are eligible
Application Deadline: Applications open on February 1, 2024 and are accepted on a rolling basis.
Dates: Students can choose between the following program options:
- Advertising and Public Relations: June 9/10, 2024 - June 14/15, 2024
- Broadcast Journalism: June 9/10, 2024 - June 14/15, 2024
- Entertainment and Media Studies: June 16/17, 2024 - June 21/ 22, 2024
- Multimedia Journalism: June 16/17, 2024 - June 21/22, 2024
Cost: $500 (day camp) | $1175 (residential camp)
Financial Aid: Limited need-based financial aid is available.
The Summer Media Academy conducts week-long camps in the following subject areas:
Advertising and Public Relations: reaching target audiences effectively and designing a campaign for a non-profit
Broadcast Journalism: researching, interviewing, reporting, credibility, videography, and video editing
Entertainment and Media Studies: content production (screenwriting and digital editing) and visual storytelling
Multimedia Journalism: interviewing, multimedia reporting, writing, editing, and producing
Instructors include professional university faculty who will conduct interactive activities and workshops while also organizing prominent guest speakers.
Each program will further enable students to work on specialized projects. Note that each camp week only admits 20 students.
11. Dow Jones News Fund Workshops
Location: Workshops available in Arizona, California, DC, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota
Eligibility: All high school students
Application Deadline: Between February 2024 and June 2024 depending on the program
Dates: June 2024 - August 2024 (exact dates vary based on the program)
Cost: Varies based on the program
The Dow Jones News Fund includes workshops across 8 locations in the country. Each location features one or more programs, such as the Cronkite Summer Journalism Institute in Phoenix, Arizona for broadcast and digital journalism or the Journalism Jumpstart program in Miami, Florida for reporting and writing.
These summer workshops mainly accept students who are underrepresented in journalism. A large number of these workshops focus on reporting on health and wellness, with some examples from previous workshops available here.
12. NYC Summer Academy at the School of New York Times
Location: The School of The New York Times, New York, NY
Eligibility: High school students in grades 10-12, who are at least 15 years old, are eligible to apply. Graduating seniors can apply too!
Application Deadline: January 8, 2024 (early deadline) | February 26, 2024 (priority + final financial aid deadline) | April 1, 2024 (regular deadline)
Dates: June 2024 - July 2024 (multiple 2-week terms available)
Cost: $5,935 (day students) | $7,220 (residential students)
Financial Aid: Merit and need-based aid and scholarships available.
As part of the prestigious The New York Times NYC Summer Academy, selected students will work on stories while also learning from editors, reporters, and industry experts.
Courses and topics are diverse, with some options being podcasting and video storytelling, photojournalism, writing on tech, playwriting, immigration, free speech, opinion writing, political commentary, reporting on public policy and activism, sports storytelling, editing, fashion reporting, investigative journalism, food writing, feature writing, and environment reporting.
Looking for an immersive internship experience?
Check out Ladder Internships!
Ladder Internships is a selective, virtual internship program where students work with startups and nonprofits from around the world! The startups range across a variety of industries, with a large number of them in tech. As part of their internship, each student will work on a real-world project that is of genuine need to the startup they are working with, and present their work at the end of their internship. In addition to working closely with their manager from the startup, each intern will also work with a Ladder Coach throughout their internship. Apply now!
Stephen is one of the founders of Ladder Internships and a Harvard College graduate.