Data Journalist Summer/Fall Intern - 2021
The Associated Press is offering a paid six-month full-time data journalism internship focused on race and ethnicity based in any city with an AP bureau. The intern will report to AP’s data journalism editor and will be embedded with the race and ethnicity team.
AP’s data team is a group of enterprising developer-journalists distributed across the U.S., and together we work on a variety of data-rich news projects – from drilling into data sets for AP investigations, to developing engaging news apps for big stories such as the U.S. elections, to building newsroom tools that enhance our beat and breaking-news reporting.
We are seeking new ways to tell stories, both in words and in pixels, and our data journalist intern will work closely with graphic artists, designers, video journalists, text reporters and editors to find the story in the data and bring it to life across platforms.
The intern will be embedded with AP’s race and ethnicity team, working closely with team members and the race and ethnicity editor to develop data-driven stories and visualizations that expand our coverage in this crucial area.
The ability to effectively collaborate, both with other data journalists on the team and with reporters and editors across AP is essential to this role. Experience working with R or Python are helpful. Ability to visualize data both for exploratory data analysis and for published graphics is a plus.
The successful candidate will be deeply engaged with issues such as inequality and racial justice and will exhibit intellectual curiosity and initiative in finding data for stories and new stories in data. In addition, the intern must be comfortable interacting with a diverse group of co-workers and interview subjects.
The intern must become familiar with - and abide by - the AP’s statement of values and principles governing ethics. This includes following the company’s social media guidelines.
Qualifications
Applicants must be:
- Current full-time students earning an undergraduate or graduate degree by the summer of 2021 and are able to start the internship June/July 2021 or
- Current full-time graduate students who are able to work full-time for six consecutive months or
- Students who graduate December 2020 or later.
- Freshmen, sophomores and juniors are ineligible.
- Must be able to show proof of legal authorization to participate in a six-month internship in the U.S. prior to the start of the internship.
- Demonstrate proficiency speaking and writing in English.
- Have good writing skills, the ability to recognize grammatical and factual errors and knowledgeable of AP Style.
- Have a prior journalism internship or experience in media.
- Demonstrate knowledge of online and social media news venues.
- Be highly organized, attentive to detail and able to multi-task.
- Be a self-starter with the ability to collaborate effectively in a team environment.
Submission materials:
- A 300-word autobiographical essay on this topic: “The Associated Press seeks to recruit and retain a workforce that embodies a wide range of talents, experiences, achievements and journalistic skills. Please describe the qualities and accomplishments you would bring to the company as an intern.”
- A resume and cover letter (please include your graduation date or projected graduation date).
- Three to five examples of your best print/text work (links to an online site of your work are highly preferred). We are looking for the work you consider your best.
- Three to five examples of your best data journalism work (links to an online site of your work are highly preferred).
- Two to four examples of your best visual work -- video, photos, multimedia, interactive, etc. (links to an online site of your work are highly preferred).
- A reference letter from a prior internship, media-related employer, faculty adviser or journalism professor on college/university letterhead.
- All application materials should be uploaded simultaneously, including the reference letter.
APPLICATION DEADLINE: FEBRUARY 21, 2021, 11:59 pm EST.