Internships: A Taste of the Working World

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Brooke Sherrard

 Since her freshman year at Truman, Brooke Sherrard had had her heart set on the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund internship program.  Fortunately, she didn’t have to wait too long.  She was accepted into this prestigious and selective program in December of her junior year.  This incredible program gave her extensive training, sent her to new locations, and provided resources for the future. 

 Brooke first learned about the Dow Jones program from her work at the Index.  Several Index staff members had done it before her, and they all gained a lot from the experience.  The Dow Jones Newspaper Fund, which is affiliated with the Wall Street Journal, is a non-profit organization that offers copy editing internships.  It was created in order to encourage more people to try out copy editing.  Because Brooke knew this was the internship she wanted, she was able to devote her time and energy to getting accepted into this program.

 She began the process of applying for the internship her junior year.  She first had to take a copy editing test in late October.  She also submitted a résumé and an essay along with her application.  About two months later, Brooke got a phone call informing her that she had been one of 140 students chosen from the 1,000 applicants to intern at Fort Worth Star-Telegram in Fort Worth, Texas.

Before her internship, Brooke attended a two-week training session in California.  She studied at a Knight Ridder training center at the San José State University newspaper office.  The training center went over what she would need to know when working for the newspaper.  “It was great because I knew exactly what I would be doing,” she said.  Another plus was that the program paid for the flight and room and board for the entire two weeks.

 From her experience working at the Index and the things she learned at the training center, Brooke was ready to start her work at Fort Worth.  Each day, she would arrive at work about 4 p.m. and would usually stay until midnight.  Although the day started off slowly, about 6 p.m. the place got busy trying to get all the stories edited and ready to print.  Brooke got to copy edit both national wire and local copy stories and write headlines.  After the stories had been put into the layout program, Brooke would then proof the stories again. 

 Although she enjoyed her work at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, she would have liked to work at a smaller paper.  Because it was such a big newspaper, there were many copy editors and she was given fewer stories to edit.  “The worst part was not having enough to do sometimes.  People who had internships at smaller newspapers had tons of stuff to do,” Brooke said.  She had been used to the Index where copy editors had to do a lot of hard copy editing quickly.  She would have to read several full newspaper pages a night.  At Fort Worth, “There was no stress level at all.  In a slow night I copyedited five stories, a medium night, fifteen.  One night I did thirty.  That was the best night I had there.  I loved it.”

 But despite not having enough work to do at times, Brooke gained a lot from the internship.  “It was really good preparation for me being editor in chief [of the Index] when I got back to Truman.  I was emerged in copy editing, and now I have to copy edit every single page before we finish it.”  More importantly, she learned that she would like to do copy editing after college at a small newspaper, at least for a while.  “I would like to take a couple years to do copy editing and figure out what I want to do.  I’m not sure if I want to go into journalism or if I want to go to graduate school.”  Another benefit of the program was that she was well paid, a rarity in internships.  The program requires that the newspapers pay a minimum of $325 a week.  Also, all interns who return to school after the internship receive a $1,000 scholarship.  “It’s an awesome program.  There are so many perks about it,” she said.

 Another great perk is the Dow Jones networking.  A Dow Jones internship is a great thing to have on your résumé in journalism.  “It shows that you must have been not only good at reporting but also at copy editing, and a lot of people haven’t done copy editing yet,” Brooke said.  In addition, copy editing experience on a journalist’s résumé can be a great benefit because it shows employers that they know how to write, perhaps better than if they didn’t know how to copy edit well.  Dow Jones also sends a list of job openings from newspapers from around the country to alumni of the program. 

 Brooke offered some advice to those interested in the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund.  “Say you want to be a copy editor even if you don’t--even for reporters it is a good experience.”  When applying, pay special attention to the essay because they sometimes base their decision on it.  For the test, make sure you study current events and know United States geography.  “The Dow Jones Newspaper Fund is a wonderful opportunity for anyone interested in copy editing…Index staff members have been very successful at getting Dow Jones internships in the past few years, though, of course, participation is not limited to Index members.  I hope a lot of people try out,” Brooke said.

 For more information, you can visit the website: http://djnewspaperfund.dowjones.com/fund/