I’m 30 Years Old, and I Just Finished an Unpaid Editorial Internship. Here’s What I Learned.
I never had any formal training as a journalist. I’ve written blog posts, travel narratives and one-off freelance assignments for years — but I’ve never worked for a news publication or gone to journalism school.
Paid work as a writer is hard to find, and I’ve spent many an evening agonizing over the question that has surely kept others up at night: how much time should I devote to my craft when I’m not being paid for it? And how can I support myself while continuing to write?
It was amidst this fog of uncertainty that I moved to Monterey this past fall. After years of working seasonal guiding and photography jobs, I made the decision to come to this sleepy little town on California’s central coast to focus on my writing career.
I saw a posting for an unpaid editorial internship with the local alt-weekly newspaper, the Monterey County Weekly and soon found myself working in a newsroom for the very first time, interviewing real people and writing real stories with real deadlines.
On the one hand, it was a tough decision to commit to an unpaid internship (it meant having to work two other jobs just to scrape by), but as a writer with no formal training it was a no-brainer—an invaluable opportunity to hone my writing skills and learn what it meant to be a journalist.
After four months of hard-knock hustle and over 15 published articles, I still don’t have a full-time job as a writer — but I learned more at the Weekly than I did over five years of freelance writing.
This post recaps my takeaways. Listed first are the eight most important lessons I learned, followed by what I learned for pitching and research, interviewing and reporting, and finally, writing and editing.
Matt’s Eight Most Important Lessons Learned
- That which can be done now, do now. This rule is easy to forget, but simple to follow. Answer emails, return phone calls, review notes and write pitches as soon as you’re able to. Write when inspiration strikes.
- Why should your average reader give a shit? This was my first experience publishing work that I knew was going to be read by the same audience every week, and it was a humbling reminder to make sure my reporting and writing were relevant to my audience.
- When in doubt, remember: who, what, when, where and most importantly, why. Don’t ever forget that your job is to provide readers with this information and to tell them why your story matters.
- Pick up the phone. In the digital age, we’re trained to send an email and wait for a response. It’s a habit I’ve worked hard to break. When you’re pursuing leads, writing stories with deadlines and interviewing subjects, you need to be pushy. Don’t text, don’t email — pick up the phone.
- Make sure to hear both sides of the story. Don’t approach stories with a preconceived angle — do your reporting, and then find the narrative. Once you’ve established your narrative, stick to it and make your writing interesting. Remember that someone is reading your story and you have to keep their attention.
- Focus on consistency. It’s OK to take on a lot of assignments, but don’t bite off more than you can chew. In the end, your writing is attributable to you and only you. Treat each article as if it’s the only piece of yours someone will ever read. Would you stake your reputation on the quality of that one piece? Special thanks to my mentor, Marielle, for drilling this one into me.
- Diversify your skill set. I’ve started to take notice of successful writers and journalists, and examine what makes them successful. Most are extremely good at personal branding and have an audience that follows the work of the journalist, not the publication. That’s difficult to achieve, but a good start is to ensure that you have the tools to make yourself a valuable asset. For me, that’s meant continuing to photograph my own stories and hone public speaking skills that can one day complement my written communication skills.
- I want to be a writer of patterns, not facts. I have no interest in only reporting who, what, when and where. I’m interested in the why, and how it drives events over time. This was an important realization for me—that I want to analyze patterns, not report facts.
Pitching and Research
- Honesty and communication are paramount. Be honest with yourself about what assignments you can handle, and be communicative with your editors about how you’re doing on deadline. You’ll save yourself a lot of trouble by being forthright and communicative.
- Write a well-formulated pitch. Keep it short and punchy: why does this issue matter, and why should the average reader give a shit?
- Learn to express your ideas via the spoken word. If you have a story idea, be able to pitch it — convincingly — in a two-minute conversation. The same goes for articles you’ve already written. Be able to give a clear and concise summary of your work during an elevator ride.
- That which can be done now, do now. If you have a tip or a story idea, seize on it right away before someone else does, or before it becomes old news.
- Contact sources as early as possible. I can’t stress this enough — the moment you’re cleared for a story, the clock starts ticking. It might take you a few days to contact your source, and you don’t want to waste valuable research, interview and writing time by waiting for a response.
Interviewing and Reporting
- Do your research. Your due diligence will help formulate thoughtful questions, put answers into context and help you begin crafting a narrative.
- Know what facts you need before the interview and be sure to get them by asking specific, poignant questions and probing for details. If it gets the conversation off track, remind your subject of their train of thought.
- Be a good listener and let your subject talk freely, but don’t let them waste your time. Guide the conversation in a direction that helps you get the information you need.
- Take detailed notes, but don’t let that distract you from spotting broader patterns and controlling the conversation. Make sure you are paying more attention to the interview than to the note-taking. If you have to, ask your subject to pause while recording an important idea or quote.
- Recording interviews (after obtaining consent!) was extremely helpful because it let me transcribe quotes word for word, letting me focus on the conversation. If there was something I wanted to review in detail, I’d note the timestamp and play it back later.
- Start the recording and then engage in small talk — make your subject forget that the conversation is being recorded. The worst thing you can do is press record, and immediately dive into the interview — it will make them feel the pressure. You want your subject to be comfortable.
- Control the set and setting of your interview. Whenever possible, choose a location that is conducive to extended, meaningful conversation. You shouldn’t be in a coffee shop where no one is talking or a restaurant where they’ll need your table.
- You will have follow-up questions, and that’s ok. Do your future self a favor and end the interview by asking your subject the best way to contact them if you have any additional questions.
Writing and Editing
- Know your nut grafs, know your outline. Your nut graf is the sentence in a section that tells your reader what the article is about and why it matters. Know your nut graf and how it fits into your story arc.
- Measure twice, cut once. Two-thirds of your writing time should be spent organizing and outlining, and one-third of your writing time should be spent writing. Measure twice, cut once.
- Avoid broad, sweeping, general language. Ask specific questions and report specific answers. What might pass as colorful scene-setting language in a blog post can be a big no-no for a credible news organization. Be specific and back up your writing with facts, but make your language understandable and readable.
- All journalists have a bias, so be aware of yours and make every effort not to push your agenda. Report both sides of the story. Your writing doesn’t need to solve a problem — it just needs to inform the reader what the problem is and why it matters to them.