Intern at Reason This Coming Summer!

The deadline for
Reason magazine’s paid ten-week summer internship,
which begins in June, is coming up (March 26).

Given that the deadline is a little over two weeks away I
thought it would be worth reiterating the advice my former
colleague
Mike Riggs gave to potential intern applicants almost a year
ago:

• Follow instructions

• Write the hell out of your cover letter

• Show some familiarity with the publication

• Tell me what you can do for us, because we know what we can do
  for you

• Be Patient

I cannot stress enough the importance of taking these tips
seriously. As I mentioned
back in November, talented applicants have ruined their chances
of being considered for an internship at Reason by failing to do
something as simple as following instructions.

Something I have been noticing since I have started looking over
intern applications is the tendency for applicants to write almost
identical cover letters to dozens of publications. These cover
letters express an interest in a career in journalism but
oftentimes do not mention why they want to be at Reason in
particular. An application with a cover letter that mentions issues
Reason is known for covering or the writings of a particular editor
is going to grab my attention much more than an application with a
cover letter that mentions Reason once in the introductory
sentence.

Interns here get to write for Reason.com and Reason
magazine about topics that interest them. Our current intern,
Alyssa
Hertig, has been writing about technology, Bitcoin, and civil
liberties. Zenon
Evans, who did such a fine job as an intern we hired him,
interviewed Russian libertarian activist
Vera Kichanova during his internship. Guy Bentley, who
now works at the London-based City A.M. (which you should
all be reading), wrote about foreign
affairs while he was an intern here.

As well as writing, Reason interns provide admin assistance to
the office, assist staff with research, and transcribe interviews.
The internship is based in Washington, D.C., and interns are
encouraged to attend events in the city that interest them.

If you want to pursue a paid journalism internship in
Washington, D.C. that will allow you to write about topics that
interest you please send in an application. But make sure to take
the tips above seriously.

If you have a question send me an email: mfeeney@reason.com.