Creative Loafing – Atlanta offers highly competitive internships to active students. The internships offer students an opportunity to gain real-world experience at the Southeast’s leading alternative weekly and Georgia’s second-most widely circulated newspaper.
As a small organization with a commitment to the very best journalism, we give interns a chance to learn how decisions are made. Interns are encouraged to become involved in the editorial process by pitching story ideas to all editors and sections of the paper, but we hold them to the same standards as our professional writers. Interns will also have the opportunity to become involved in marketing and sales initiatives as well as company operations. Most interns leave their internship with a set of clips and have even contributed to feature stories and award-winning pieces. They also experience a wide array of publishing operations, so they exit the internship with a better understanding of the industry as a whole. Creative Loafing interns are highly successful, self-motivated students and some have gone on to top graduate journalism programs, positions at other papers as well as working with Creative Loafing.
The best interns are assertive, ambitious and organized. Each candidate should have some journalism experience and must be working toward a degree. Additionally, candidates must receive credit for the internship and have a personal laptop available to use in-office. Do we make exceptions? NO. Students with published work preferred. We require a minimum commitment of 12-16 hours per week.
HOW TO APPLY
Although we’ll work with students regarding schedules and deadlines, we generally try to stick to three separate terms: fall (mid-August through late December), spring (early January through early May), summer (mid-May through mid-August). Deadlines for application packets are: December 17 for the spring, April 8 for the summer and Aug. 4 for the fall. To apply, please send a cover letter outlining why you should be considered for the internship, including what sets you apart from other applicants, blogging experience, involvement in social media, as well as any specific interests in our sections, including Food & Drink, Arts, and Music. Provide a resume, two references (with e-mail and phone number), and three samples of your work to: Will Cardwell, Creative Loafing, 115 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Atlanta, GA 30303, or will.cardwell at creativeloafing.com. Please no phone calls or surprise visits. The number of interns working with the editorial staff varies but these are the general areas where most interns work
Events CL Internship: Interns support the events editor with both Happenings and Arts Agenda listings. It is an information bank of the arts and entertainment events taking place throughout Atlanta. Events interns also contribute to See+Do and a weekly round-up of the city’s best events. As they establish their skills, interns may also write briefs and contribute to other sections.
Interns with specific section interests will have the opportunity to work with the following sections:
Editorial: An intern who gets a healthy dose of each section and will contribute to every facet of CL. Interns will craft online content, edit stories in all sections, and gain experience working in many versatile environments.
Music: Music interns compile music listings, help organize and administer the local music archives, and assist the music editor in various projects. Once they have demonstrated their skills, music interns may be called upon to write record reviews or weekly music highlights.
Social Media: Assist Social Media Department with daily postings on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter. Attend and cover press conferences and events via CL’s social medias. Creative, outgoing applicants who yearn to show off the city of Atlanta via social media, are perfect candidates. Email ema.carr at creativeloafing.com.
Digital: An intern with a strong interest in digital, web design, user interface and basic coding (HTML/Java) will contribute to CL online production work (content and database management). Interns liaison with section editors and various departments around CL to maintain an ethically sound online presence and execute digital strategy.