Home Join NAHJ Our Mission By Laws Awards Membership Form Board Members Internship Tips Broadcast Internship Listings Career Resources Link Contact the NAHJ Educational Department NAHJ’s 2002 Rubén Salazar Scholarship Fund Winners . . . . . .

NAHJ CONVENTION INTERNSHIP INFORMATION PAGE

About NAHJ Convention Internship programs:

The National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) Convention Internship programs are for current college students only. However, high school students are encouraged to review this material so that they are aware that this opportunity exists for them in the future.

NAHJ offers several opportunities for selected students to become involved in our association’s annual convention. These students can work with professional journalists in putting together a convention newspaper, a television newscast, a radio newscast, an online news Web site. Or they may be chosen for our Student Campus program, which gives students exposure to intensive training from some of the top journalism professionals and educators in the country.

NOTE FOR 2004: NAHJ’s convention in 2004 will be a part of the overall UNITY 2004 convention. The convention internship programs, including Student Campus, will still be held. Those projects will feature students from the other UNITY associations as well: the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA), the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) and the Native American Journalists Association (NAJA). For more information on the UNITY 2004 convention, which will be held from August 4 — 8, 2004 in Washington, D.C., please visit: http://www.unityjournalists.org.

NAHJ CONVENTION INTERNSHIP APPLICATION FORMS: NAHJ no longer sends out convention internship application forms through the postal service. The next NAHJ convention will be a part of the 2004 UNITY: Journalists of Color, Inc. convention from August 4 — 8, 2004 in Washington, D.C. (see below for more details). Please contact NAHJ Educational Programs Manager Kevin Olivas via e-mail at: kolivas@nahj.org for more information. Application deadline for 2004 has not yet been determined. During non-UNITY Convention years, the NAHJ Convention Internship application postmark deadline is the final Friday in January.

IMPORTANT: If you plan to submit applications for both an NAHJ scholarship and the NAHJ convention internship programs (college students only are eligible for convention internships), YOU MUST SUBMIT TWO SEPARATE APPLICATION PACKAGES!!!

SCHOLARSHIP APPLICANTS SHOULD BE ADDRESS APPLICATION MATERIALS IN ONE PACKAGE TO "NAHJ SCHOLARSHIP COMMITTEE."

APPLICANTS FOR CONVENTION INTERNSHIP PROGRAMS SHOULD SUBMIT A SEPARATE APPLICATION PACKAGE TO "NAHJ CONVENTION INTERNSHIP PROGRAMS." (Please see NAHJ Scholarship Information page at http://www.nahj.org/student/scholarshipinformation.html

for more information on our association’s scholarship programs.)

Who is eligible to take part in the NAHJ Convention Internship Programs?

Current college undergraduates and graduate students are eligible to take part in the NAHJ Convention Internship programs. This includes students who currently attend community colleges.

Basic requirements to take part in the NAHJ Convention Internship Programs:

• Must be enrolled in a college or university (enclose copy of valid student identification).
• Must be available to take part in these programs from at least July 31, 2004 — August 9, 2004.
• Must submit complete Convention Internships application package in one envelope.
• Students selected for Student Campus: must arrange and pay for your own transporation to and from the NAHJ/UNITY convention.

Details on NAHJ Convention Internship Programs:

NAHJ Student Campus:

This program gives students a chance to receive intensive instruction from journalism professionals and educators during a three-day workshop. These areas can range from dealing with journalism ethics to how to apply for your first internship. Past Student Campus professional staffers have included Los Angeles Times staff writer George Ramos, KRON-TV (San Francisco) anchor Marty Gonzalez and University of Texas-Austin journalism professor Mercedes Lynn de Uriarte. Students will attend the convention following the three-day seminar. NOTE: Those who are chosen for Student Campus must arrange and pay for their own transportation to and from the NAHJ/UNITY convention.

NAHJ will cover registration and accomodations of students selected for the Student Campus program.

NAHJ Latino Reporter Student Newspaper Project:

Reporters, photographers, copy editors and graphic artists produce three editions of a convention newspaper under the supervision of professional journalists. This newspaper is seen by the approximately 2,000 who annually attend the NAHJ convention. NAHJ will cover transportation, registration and accommodations for students selected for this project.

NAHJ Latino Reporter Digital Student Online News Project:

Reporters, copy editors, graphic artists and Web designers produce a daily on-line convention newspaper under the supervision of professional journalists. NAHJ will cover transportation, registration and accommodations for students selected for this project.

NAHJ Radio Ondas Student Radio Project:

On-air reporters, anchors, producers, editors and engineers participate in a one-week "boot camp" that emphasizes writing, producing, recording and voice for radio. This project will be produced ENTIRELY on Power Macintosh computers using digital editing tools that nearly every audio broadcast outlet is using today. A staff of professionals will supervise the project and assign a role to each competitively selected participant. There will be a host(s), reporters and producers and a fully equipped, on-line "newsroom." We will be producing a program that will be posted on the Web sites of National Public Radio.

One student who is selected for this project will also have an opportunity to be the NAHJ intern at National Public Radio for the Summer of 2004. NAHJ will cover transportation, registration and accommodations for students selected for this project.

NAHJ El Noticiero Television News Project

Anchors, reporters, segment producers, assignment editors and writers produce a 30-minute newscast under the supervision of professional journalists that will be televised during the convention. NAHJ will cover transportation, registration and accommodations for students selected for this project.

NOTE: To take part in the NAHJ El Noticiero TV News Project, students will also need to submit:

1) A demo tape in VHS format.

2) A cover letter.

3) A one-page, typed, double-spaced 150-200 word essay on what you can contribute as a Hispanic student to television news? How do you plan on doing this?

What NAHJ asks Convention Internship applicants to submit:

1. Reference letter from someone who is familiar with your academic and/or professional work. Usually this would be a campus media advisor, counselor or employer.
2. Unofficial transcript of your grades.
   
   
3. A 500-word autobiographical essay written in the third person in the form of a news story that explains why you are seeking a career in the field of print, photo, broadcast or online journalism.
   
   
4. Samples of your best work:
   
   Print = If you are applying for the NAHJ Latino Reporter convention newspaper project — Submit 3 to 5 samples of stories or photos written or taken by you that have been published in campus or community newspapers.
   
   Online = If you are applying for the NAHJ Latino Reporter Digital online news project — Submit three samples of Web design work.
   
   Radio = If you are applying for the NAHJ Radio Ondas radio news project — Submit three standard audio cassettes or compact discs of demo tapes of your work in radio.
   
   Television = If you are applying for the NAHJ El Noticiero television news project — Submit a demo tape in VHS format of your best stories. If you are a producer and do not appear on camera in the stories, please submit a note along with the tape which explains this.
   
   TV project applicants only — You must also submit 1) A cover letter and 2) A 150-200 word essay (one page, typed, double-spaced) answering the following question: As a Hispanic student, what can you contribute to television news and how do you plan to do this? (This essay would be in addition to the autobiographical essay mentioned previously. Applicants for the NAHJ El Noticiero TV news project must submit both essays as part of their application packages).
   
   
5. A résumé — Please make sure that résumé is no longer than one page.
   
   
6. Valid student I.D. card.

Benefits to being involved in NAHJ/UNITY Convention Internship programs:

• Opportunity to meet other student journalists of color from throughout the United States and Puerto Rico.
• Chance to work with professional journalists whom you can learn from. This is your opportunity to find out how they went from being a student like you are now to working in a newsroom.
• Most expenses paid for, if you are accepted into these programs.
• Chance to attend convention job fair to meet with newsroom recruiters from newspapers, wire services, television networks and stations, radio networks and stations and journalism graduate schools from throughout the U.S.
• Opportunity to take part in workshops that deal with issues facing professional and student journalists.

NAHJ Scholarship Review Process:

A group of professional journalists reviews NAHJ Convention Internship applications. THIS IS A DIFFERENT GROUP OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS THAN THE ONES WHO REVIEW NAHJ SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS. Students who are accepted into the NAHJ Convention Internship programs are notified in the Spring of each year.

NAHJ Convention Internship application deadline:

The NAHJ POSTMARK Convention Internship application deadline is always on the final Friday in January. Note for 2004: Because 2004 is when the next UNITY: Journalists of Color, Inc. Convention is being held in Washington, D.C., the application deadline for that year has not yet been set.

BEST ADVICE: Try to submit application packages days or weeks AHEAD of the deadline. The reason for this is because applications that are submitted at the last minute can sometimes appear to have been "rushed together," which will hurt the applicant’s chances of being selected as a recipient. Once the NAHJ scholarship application is posted on the NAHJ Web site, students can then begin submitting applications.

Receive notice about posting of NAHJ Convention Internship application forms:

If you would like to receive a postcard to alert you that NAHJ has posted Convention Internship application forms on its Web site, please send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to:

NAHJ
Convention Internship Program
529 14^th Street, NW, Suite 1000
Washington, DC 20045-2001

Questions about NAHJ Convention Internship programs?

If you have questions regarding our association’s Convention Internship programs, please contact NAHJ Educational Programs Manager Kevin Olivas by e-mail at: kolivas@nahj.org.