An Overview For Employers

The journalism internship program is designed to provide students with opportunities to gain practical experience in a professional work setting as part of their academic program in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

Employers interested in offering internships should apply to the appropriate internship coordinator for print, digital journalism, broadcast and public relations. The coordinator will review the internship to determine whether it qualifies for the program. Only internships that offer students professional-level experience will be considered for academic credit. The internship coordinators will determine what level of academic credit a student receives.

All internships must be done for credit and should be arranged through the school. Qualified employers will be invited to participate in various internship interview days throughout the year so that they can meet and interview students.

Employers are expected to:

• Complete a Student/Employer Internship Agreement that sets out the terms of the internship, including work schedule and pay.
• Sign a University Affiliation Agreement that explains the legal liabilities of the university and those of the employer regarding the placement of an ASU student.
• Provide work that is meaningful to the student’s training as a journalist or media professional. Interns are viewed as professionals in training and should be assigned duties similar to those given to entry-level employees. While it is expected that some interns may be assigned clerical-level work, this should not make up more than 25 percent of a student’s responsibilities.
• Provide the intern with a supervisor who has professional experience in the specific area of a student’s internship and who is responsible for monitoring the student’s work and training.
• Provide the intern with a workspace and adequate equipment to do required work.
• Complete evaluation forms on the intern’s performance, as requested by the coordinator.
• Schedule the student intern to work the required number of hours. Interns receiving MCO 294 credit must work a total of 120 hours during the course of a semester. Interns receiving the higher-level JMC 484 credit must work at least 225 hours over a semester. Students may work more hours, but we do not recommend more than 20 hours a week during the fall and spring semesters. Internships officially start at the beginning of each semester; however, start and stop dates can be flexible by mutual agreement.
• Communicate immediately with the internship coordinator if the student is failing in his or her performance in any way.

Who to contact

Michael Wong, director of career services for the Cronkite School, should be your first point of contact if you are new to the Cronkite School’s internship program. You can reach Mike at 602.496.7430 or mike.wong@asu.edu.

Director Wong directly supervises all broadcast and public relations internships. Kristin Gilger, assistant dean of the Cronkite School, supervises print internships, including online and photography. You can reach her at 602.496.9448 or Kristin.gilger@asu.edu.