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The Mississippi Free Press, an award-winning nonprofit digital newsroom with national impact, is seeking a journalism intern to join our team. Applicants should be current college students (graduate or undergraduate level) or graduating in the 2024-25 academic year who would like to join us in growing our coverage of Mississippi in a deeply contextual, inclusive, investigative and solutions-based fashion that challenges the old ways of the state’s traditional media environment.
With growing reporting bureaus across Mississippi, the radically inclusive Mississippi Free Press team believes being a “statewide” newsroom means reporting deeply on the ground in all corners of Mississippi, not largely focusing on the Legislature or centering official voices and politics in and from the capital city. To achieve this truly statewide-local vision, we are methodical in our approach to covering all regions of the state, including its overlooked rural areas.
Job Description
We are seeking a Jackson-based journalism intern to report on systemic problems and possible solutions in rural areas in and around central Mississippi, including Hinds, Rankin and Madison counties, as well as other counties within easy driving distance. The intern will be based in our Jackson newsroom but travel to nearby rural areas with mentors and/or our photo editor to help host and participate in solutions circles to reveal the local concerns, track those concerns and possible solutions, and do data-driven narrative story-telling about real people’s lives far from the state capital building. The intern’s work will be key to the growth of our Mapping Mississippi approach, which we’re designing as a way to better reach more of our state, especially under-served rural communities. The intern will have the opportunity to work with our editors and reporters on local stories while using new data tools to locate and reach out to potential sources.
Requirements:
You are a current or recently graduated (2024-25) college student (graduate or undergraduate).
You have excellent writing and reporting skills.
You have a great attitude and a stellar work ethic. You will work hard here.
You have a desire to help the people of Mississippi through journalism.
The internship is one of five in the United States funded this year by the Scripps Howard Fund Nonprofit Newsrooms Internship Program, in partnership with the Institute for Nonprofit News’ Rural News Network, which is aimed at combating news deserts across the country and providing journalistic experience for college students and recent graduates.
The internship is a full-time, paid position in fall 2025 lasting 10 weeks, paying $15 an hour.
Apply HERE by 10:59 p.m., central time, on Friday, April 18, 2025. (If you have problems submitting your application through Submittable, please email Chief of Staff Shaye Smith at shaye@mississippifreepress.org for directions.) If you have questions about the internship opportunity, email Editor & CEO Donna Ladd at donna@mississippifreepress.org or Editorial Assistant Kiden-Aloyse Smith at kiden@mississippifreepress.org.
The Mississippi Journalism and Education Group does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, physical or mental disability, genetic information or veteran status in any area of its operations.