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University of Colorado Boulder · 11 hours ago

Temporary Reporter/Writer Intern

Boulder, CO

Internship

Onsite

Intern

$18.90/hr - $18.90/hr

The University of Colorado Boulder is seeking a Temporary Reporter/Writer Intern for the College of Arts and Sciences. The role involves conducting research, writing articles, and editing content for Colorado Arts & Sciences Magazine to highlight important scholarly work and student accomplishments.

Universities

Responsibilities

Reading published journal articles or book chapters

Reviewing abstracts of published journal article in an attempt to identify story ideas that might be pursued

Attending lectures, presentations or exhibitions

Preparing questions for interviews

Interviewing subjects and taking notes

Reviewing relevant documents in the public sphere as appropriate

Identifying books recently published by CU faculty for inclusion in the magazine’s “books” section

Crafting shorter articles in “inverted pyramid” style

Writing longer, more in-depth articles, using literary devices where appropriate

Incorporating more than one “voice” into longer stories, especially

Paying attention to the need for a longer piece to form a coherent whole

Reviewing and revising each piece of writing before submission, and discussing and incorporating feedback from the editor

Reviewing and making suggested changes to text written by editors and freelance writers

Writing short pieces about academic awards, student accomplishments, noteworthy events etc

Editing book blurbs to conform to AP style

Posting text from multiple sources on the magazine’s website using WordPress CMS

Stories and other tasks (e.g., posting book notices) will be assigned by the editor

Each assignment will include a deadline

The expectation is that the deadline will be met; if circumstances, such as delays in interviews or unforeseen obstacles in background research, prevent a deadline’s being met, the expectation is that the writer will discuss this with the editor before deadline

Each intern will meet with the editor once a week at a mutually agreed-upon time to discuss story progress, new assignments, suggestions on written submissions etc

Most stories assignments will require that the writer conduct background research

Pre-interview research is important for several reasons, including the fact that faculty are busy and should not be called upon to review information easily obtained before an interview, that each writer at the magazine represents the dean’s office, and that background research helps the writer produce a better story

Interview requests should be made with minimum standards of professional decorum

Each interview request should clearly state your affiliation with the magazine, the topic you want to discuss and the length of time you anticipate the interview will last

Each interview request should begin with a formal salutation (e.g., “Dear Professor Smith”) and end with a respectful closing, such as “Sincerely.”

While having a list of questions is important, it is equally important to be willing and able to depart from a pre-set list of questions mid-interview

Also remember that the quality of an interview is often affected by the rapport between the interviewer and interviewee

It’s a good idea to begin an interview by thanking the interview subject for her time and to make some brief small talk, which can be as simple as, “How are you today?”

The form of writing you will use most often is called “inverted pyramid” style writing

Editing is part of the writing process

Before submitting a story, a writer is expected to review, hone, polish and try to perfect a story as much as possible

Once the story is submitted to the editor, the editor will review the piece, generally making any suggested changes in track-changes mode in Word, then sending the piece back to the writer for discussion, revision and review

At that point, the writer will submit the piece to the subject or subjects of the story for review

The writer will be expected to ask subjects of stories if they have any photographs or other illustrations that would help readers understand the material in the story

Additionally, the writer will be expected to ask for “mug shots” of each subject