TPM is looking for a Features Intern to assist with TPMCafe, our op-ed section, and The Slice, our features section that gets to the gut-level, human side of (mostly) American culture and politics. The Slice publishes researched essays, personal narrative and voicey reported pieces on things like politics, sex, identity, crime, history, pop culture and family. Read what we’ve published so far here, and read more from the editor here and here.
As TPM’s Features Intern, you’ll help build a still-very-new section from the ground up. You’ll be voraciously reading and pointing the editor to trends, thought-provoking concepts and underreported topics. You’ll be brainstorming story ideas and discovering writers, as well as fact-checking and providing some administrative support (sorry). You will also assist with finding stories and writers for TPMCafe, our op-ed section. And there will be opportunities to write.
You should have:
-Good taste in the Internet; knowledge and awareness of online subcultures as well as the tenor of the mainstream conversation
-A wide range of interests; your daily reading list should consist of pieces about anything from Taylor Swift and sexting to Obamacare and police brutality, from breaking news to investigative longreads
-Familiarity with TPM’s other sections
-Attention to detail; ability to catch typos, tweak html, etc.
-Great organizational skills
-A robust presence on social media
-Bonus points: experience fact-checking quickly and thoroughly
Please submit a resume, brief cover email (no seriously, brief), any relevant websites or social media accounts, 2-3 clips, and links to 3 recent articles you read that would have been perfect for The Slice (with a few sentences about why for each). This last request is the most important part of your app, so choose wisely.
Send your application to talk@talkingpointsmemo.com and use the subject line “Job App: Features Intern.”
This is a paid, 12-week internship in Talking Points Memo’s New York office, to start ASAP. The intern must have availability 25-30 hours a week. TPM’s interns go on to places like The New Republic, The Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, The New Yorker and The Washington Post. And usually a third to a half of our staff is made up of former fellows and interns.
Rising seniors, recent graduates and graduate students preferred. Qualified applicants can receive academic credit. Candidates with diverse backgrounds and perspectives strongly encouraged to apply.
