Scholarships and Internships for NJ College Students

The New Jersey Press Foundation operates an internship / scholarship program for college students who are interested in pursuing newspaper careers.

The program invites applications from students attending New Jersey colleges and for New Jersey residents who are currently enrolled at other U.S. colleges.

The application deadline is November 15.  Click here for an application form for the 2009 program.

Eight students will be selected to receive $1,000 scholarships and will be assigned to summer internships at New Jersey daily and weekly newspapers.

The students will be paid $325 a week for eight weeks of work as reporters, photographers, copy editors, graphic artists or Web page experts.

Click the lines below to see the procedures the foundation follows to select interns and for a listing of internships at New Jersey's newspapers.

• Selection procedures for the Internship / Scholarship Program.

• A listing of internships offered by New Jersey's daily and weekly newspapers and by other foundations and organizations.

Recipients of the Foundation's 2008 Internships and Scholarships

The following students were selected as NJPF scholarship recipients for 2008 and were recommended for summer internships at New Jersey newspapers. There were 49 applicants for the $1,500 scholarships to be awarded at the successful completion of the internships.

Michelle Caffrey, Drew University; hometown is Westhampton, NJ; will intern at the Burlington County Times, Willingboro
Megan DeMarco, The College of New Jersey; hometown is East Brunswick, NJ; will intern at The Jersey Journal, Jersey City
Emily Laermer, Northwestern University; hometown is Princeton Junction, NJ; will intern at The Princeton Packet
Brittani Manzo, New York University; hometown is Point Pleasant Beach, NJ; will intern at The Islander (Asbury Park Press)
Jenna Nierstedt, Boston University; hometown is Garwood, NJ; will intern at Worrall Community Newspapers, Union
John Sutton, Syracuse University; hometown is Atlantic Highlands, NJ; will intern at The Record (Bergen County) or the Herald News (Passaic County)
Brittany Talarico, University of Delaware; hometown is Oakhurst, NJ (will intern at The Islander (Asbury Park Press)

All of the other applicants are encouraged to pursue an internship at a New Jersey newspaper, using the directory of internships compiled by NJPF. There are more than 100 internships listed in that directory.

The following links offer more information about this scholarship program and scholarship recipients:

• Recipients of the Foundation's 2007 internships and scholarships.

• Recipients of the Foundation's 2006 internships and scholarships.

2007 Internship and Scholarship Recipients

Internship / Scholarship Program

Eight New Jersey college student journalists were selected in December 2006 for internships and scholarships to be awarded in 2007 by the New Jersey Press Foundation.

Each student will receive a $1,500 scholarship following his or her summer internship at a New Jersey newspaper. The interns will receive a minimum salary of $300 a week for eight weeks of work.

The scholarship recipients are:

• Benjamin Cohen of Livingston; Duke University, Durham, NC; will intern at The Record (Bergen County) or the Herald News, Passaic.
• Jessica Durando of Bayonne; Rutgers College; will intern at The Star-Ledger, Newark.
• Brandon Lee of Paramus; The  College of New Jersey; will intern at The Record.
• Michelle McGuinness of Easthampton; The College of New Jersey; will intern at Packet Publications, Princeton.
• Bernette Pearson of Irvington; Syracuse University; will intern at The Jersey Journal, Jersey City.
• Jake Remaly of Wippany; The College of New Jesey; will intern at the Daily Record, Parsippany.
• Heather Schwedel of Colonia; University of Pennsylvania; will intern at the Asbury Park Press, Neptune.
• Andrew Vanacore of Ridgewood; University of Maryland; will intern at The Record or the Herald News.

Fifty-eight students sent NJPF applications for the 2007 Internship/Scholarship Program. Editors from 10 New Jersey newspapers evaluated the applicants.

2006 Internship and Scholarship Recipients

Internship / Scholarship Program

Five New Jersey college student journalists were selected in December 2005 for internships and scholarships awarded in 2006 by the New Jersey Press Foundation.

The scholarship recipients are:

• Sergio Bichao of Hillside (Union County); Rutgers-Newark; was an intern at the Jersey Journal, Jersey City. He will work part-time for the paper during the spring months and full-time for the summer.
• Brian Freedman of Towaco (Morris County); University of Maryland; was an intern at the Daily Record, Parsippany.
• Christine Grimaldi of Morganville (Monmouth County; George Washington University; was an intern at Greater Media Newspapers, Freehold.
• Fraidy Reiss of Lakewood (Ocean County); Rutgers University, New Brunswick; was an intern at The Press of Atlantic City's news bureau in Trenton.
• Meghan Van Dyk of Midland Park (Bergen County); Drew University; was an intern at the Community Newspapers of North Jersey Media Group, Ridgewood.

Each student received a $3,000 scholarship following their summer internships at New Jersey newspapers. The interns received a minimum salary of $300 a week for 10 weeks of work.

Fifty-eight students sent NJPF applications for the 2006 Internship/Scholarship Program.

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Intern Selection, Assignment and Notification Procedures

Announcement

1. Program is announced in September. Mailings are sent to all New Jersey college journalism programs, New Jersey college newspapers, New Jersey dailies and weeklies, other journalism programs in the East and accredited journalism programs nationwide. The announcement includes a cover letter and a flier describing the program and inviting students to request an application form from the NJPF Web site.
2. Only students whose hometowns are in New Jersey are eligible to apply. Students must have at least one term of undergraduate school remaining following the summer internship.
3. Application information is posted on websites for the New Jersey Press Foundation and the New Jersey Collegiate Press Association.
4. A second mailing to promote the program is sent in October to New Jersey schools and newspaper editors.
5. The program also is announced in the NJCPA news bulletin and in InPRINT, the NJPA monthly newspaper.

Selection

1. A committee of New Jersey newspaper editors reads applications and ranks the applicants in December.
2. Each committee member reads all parts of the applications they are sent, including a career-interest and autobiographical essay, recommendations and clippings and ranks the applicants, with a "1" as the best applicant, "2" as the next best, etc.
3. Every complete application is read by at least three editors and their rankings are totaled.
4. The students with the lowest cumulative rankings are selected to receive NJPF scholarships.
5. The internship/scholarship recipients then are tentatively assigned to summer jobs at New Jersey newspapers (see below).
6. Several students named to a "Top Prospects" list are given assistance in locating summer internships at New Jersey newspapers.

Assignment to Newspapers

1. The students indicate on their application forms three choices of where they would like to work as interns.
2. Assignments are made by NJPF, taking into account a geographical match so the interns might be able to live at home and save additional money from their summer wages.
3. NJPF makes the final decision as to which newspaper each scholarship recipient will be assigned. Each student's internship assignment is subject to the approval of the newspaper's publisher and/or editor.
4. Students then contact their assigned newspaper and make an appointment for an interview. The hiring decision is made by the newspaper. If a student isn't hired by the assigned newspaper, NJPF will attempt to locate another newspaper that would be willing to interview the student for a summer job.

Notification Procedure

1. The students selected are sent e-mail messages to tell them that they have been selected to receive a scholarship and a guaranteed paid internship.
2. Interns who are selected then send NJPF an e-mail or letter agreeing to be part of the program and to accept the assignment of a newspaper internship.
3. Newspapers then are called to ask them to consider hiring a specific NJPF intern and are mailed a copy of that student's application.
4. Following an interview arranged by the student, the newspapers notify NJPF of their decisions.
5. The interns who are offered summer job are sent letters confirming where they will work for the summer internship.
6. All other applicants, including alternates to the program, are notified they weren't selected.

Instructions for Interns and Confirmation of the Internships

1. Following confirmation of the job offer by the newspapers, NJPF tells the interns to immediately contact their editors to let them know when they will be reporting to work in May or June and to ask any other questions they may have about the internship.
2. Letters to the editors confirm the internship assignment and ask the editors to respond to their interns' calls or letters by letting each one know what the salary will be, that the internship will last at least eight weeks, who the supervising editor will be, the types of assignments the intern can expect, and any preparation the intern needs to make prior to reporting to work (stylebook reading, etc.). A copy of their interns' application forms is enclosed with the letter.
3. Scholarship checks will be awarded following the receipt by NJPF of written reports from the interns and their supervising editors at the conclusion of the internships.

New Jersey Press Foundation
840 Bear Tavern Road, Suite 305
West Trenton, NJ 08628-1019
Phone 609-406-0600 – Fax 609-406-0300