Fall Paid Intern - All Things Considered & National Desk

This is a Part Time Paid Internship

OVERVIEW

Internship Program Duration: October 5th, 2026 - April 16th, 2027

Application Instructions: Applications close on Sunday, June 21st at 11:59 pm ET.

Intro to Position

This internship consists of two parts. Each part will be hosted by a different team.

All Things Considered, October-January:

Interns are actively involved in the production of the daily program. They pitch stories, conduct research, pre-interview guests, mix stories, help with production of podcasts and book studios at NPR and remote locations. They work alongside program staff and assist with the live program.

INTERN RESPONSIBILITIES
• Conducts research for daily stories and long-term projects
• Books guests and arranges studios for news and feature interviews
• Logs recordings of interviews and events
• Obtains archival tape and assists with basic audio
• Attends daily editorial meeting and pitches story ideas
• Helps with digital production

National Desk, January-April:

During the second half of the internship, the intern will work with NPR’s National Desk. Ideal for those who aspire to be a reporter in public media, National Desk interns are given real-world, hands-on responsibilities from day one. Working alongside top professionals in the field, interns conduct meaningful work, such as researching, pitching, and reporting their own stories, and may also have the opportunity to accompany staff reporters and producers on assignments. Our reporters and editors are among the best in the business, and the National Desk is a great place to learn the craft of reporting. The internship is also a lot of fun.

INTERN RESPONSIBILITIES
• Assisting NPR staff reporters, editors, producers, hosts and freelancers in the creation of news programming
• Learning NPR News’ radio journalism ethical standards and practices
• Developing radio reporting and producing skills that will prepare the intern for careers at NPR member stations and at NPR itself
• Conduct research for editors and reporters
• Build clipboards, log tape and write digital posts
• All work of the intern is to be performed under the close supervision of the host teams

The above duties and responsibilities are not an exhaustive list of required responsibilities, duties and skills. Other duties may be assigned, and this job description can be modified at any time.

This is an NPR editorial role covered under the terms of the NPR Ethics Handbook. All editorial staff are bound by this guidance. Editorial staff is defined as staff members who play a role in shaping the journalistic or creative direction of NPR's content, including events.

Qualifications
• A keen interest in journalism
• Specific interest in public media
• Some journalism experience (such as an internship at a local public radio station or a job at a college radio station)

Application Requirements
• Resume
• Cover Letter
• Writing Sample

Education Requirements

Must be a current student in an accredited degree program or a recent graduate of no more than 12 months from the month of the start of the internship.

Work Location & Requirements
• On-site (Non-union or SAG AFTRA): This is an on-site role based in Washington, D.C.

Job Type
• This is a full-time, non-exempt internship.

Schedule

This is a full-time internship (40 hours per week) generally Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., but which can be flexible around the intern’s schedule and news demands.

Does this sound like you? If so, we want to hear from you.

#LI-ONSITE

You may read NPR’s privacy policy to learn about how NPR may handle information you submit with any application.

Want more NPR? Explore the stories behind the stories on our NPR Extra blog.
Create a Job Alert

Interested in building your career at NPR? Get future opportunities sent straight to your email.
Create alert