Summer Intern: Audience Engagement
The Conversation U.S. is hiring a paid summer intern to join the audience engagement team in support of our unique model of nonprofit journalism.
Period of Internship: Summer
Pay : $15/hr
Job Type: Internship
Hours per week: 40 hrs
Location: Primarily remote. Option for local interns to work in New York City or Boston for in-person meetings.
Application due date: March 7, 2025
Required Degree/Major: All majors
Contact: Alpa Pandya, Executive Assistant - Board Liaison,email Alpa with any questions at alpa.pandya@theconversation.com.
How to apply: Please email your resume and a statement of interest (including links to your personal or professional social media accounts) to alpa.pandya@theconversation.com.
THE CONVERSATION
The Conversation began publishing in the U.S. in 2014 and is an independent, nonprofit publisher of news written by academic experts and researchers. All of our stories are written by faculty from U.S. colleges and universities and edited by our team of editors for the general public. Authors write on their specific area of expertise, while our editors make sure all stories are accessible, informative and of interest to a general reader.
TCUS stories are published by news outlets including The Washington Post, CNN, Slate, Scientific American and Univision. The stories also get wide distribution through The Associated Press, Yahoo! News and Apple News. In 2024, our stories received more than 130 million page views on our website and through republication. The Conversation is published daily on our own site at theconversation.com, and we are active on social media on BlueSky, Facebook, X, LinkedIn, Instagram, Mastodon, Threads, TikTok, Truth Social and Nostr.
The Conversation U.S. is deeply committed to inclusion and diversity. We encourage members of traditionally underrepresented groups − including people who are Black,
INTERNSHIP DESCRIPTION
The Conversation U.S. is excited to hire a summer editorial intern who wants a deep dive into our unique model of journalism. Ours is not your traditional newsroom, and this is not your traditional writing internship. This job will be focused in large part on editing local news stories from academics.
This is a paid position. We will train you to seek out interesting and timely research that matters to readers either in Philadelphia or Detroit. Preference will be given to candidates with a connection to these cities.
You’ll learn how to help scholars explain important ideas to a general reader by working collaboratively with our editors. You’ll shadow editors; attend weekly virtual talks and education sessions with established journalists; meet professional writers and journalists; and receive one-on-one coaching from a supervisor. You will be responsible for editing weekly assignments, doing editorial research and other projects.
OUR IDEAL CANDIDATE:
Has a genuine interest in social media and digital marketing, and an eagerness to learn and experiment.
Is familiar with major social media platforms (including emerging platforms) and their features.
Has excellent written and verbal communication skills and a knack for crafting engaging content.
Has basic knowledge of social media analytics and reporting.
Has a familiarity with social media management tools and scheduling platforms.
Has experience shooting and editing social video.
Experience in journalism (either through coursework, extracurriculars, other internships or jobs) is preferred but not required.
YOU SHOULD:
Be curious about local news.
Be a college senior, master’s student or recent graduate interested in a career in journalism.
Have some prior experience in journalism (either through coursework, extracurriculars, other internships or jobs).
Be available to work for 10 weeks, likely between early/mid June 2025, and Aug. 16, 2025.
YOU WILL:
Help us elevate and share our journalism through thoughtful audience engagement strategy.
Create and post social media to assist in reaching new audiences and loyal readers.
Learn SEO tips and tricks to drive readership, and other best practices for online news.
Lead one audience engagement-focused project from idea to completion.
You will be helping to power, distribute and expand the reach of The Conversation’s noteworthy journalism. From creating graphics to implementing SEO best practices to thinking about the reader experience on our website and across platforms, we strive to deliver quality expert news in a digital landscape in a way that is accessible, digestible and true to the audiences we serve.
HOW TO APPLY: Applications are due March 7, 2025. Please email your resume and a statement of interest (including links to your personal or professional social media accounts) to alpa.pandya@theconversation.com, with a subject line : EDITORIAL INTERN (LOCAL NEWS PROJECT)OUR IDEAL CANDIDATE:
Has a genuine interest in social media and digital marketing, and an eagerness to learn and experiment.
Is familiar with major social media platforms (including emerging platforms) and their features.
Has excellent written and verbal communication skills and a knack for crafting engaging content.
Has basic knowledge of social media analytics and reporting.
Has a familiarity with social media management tools and scheduling platforms.
Has experience shooting and editing social video.
Experience in journalism (either through coursework, extracurriculars, other internships or jobs) is preferred but not required.
YOU SHOULD:
Be curious about local news.
Be a college senior, master’s student or recent graduate interested in a career in journalism.
Have some prior experience in journalism (either through coursework, extracurriculars, other internships or jobs).
Be available to work for 10 weeks, likely between early/mid June 2025, and Aug. 16, 2025.
YOU WILL:
Help us elevate and share our journalism through thoughtful audience engagement strategy.
Create and post social media to assist in reaching new audiences and loyal readers.
Learn SEO tips and tricks to drive readership, and other best practices for online news.
Lead one audience engagement-focused project from idea to completion.