Footnoted.org turns four, looks for interns

Footnoted.org, a popular blog that looks at the things publicly traded companies try to bury in their routine SEC filings, has turned four, and founder Michelle Leder says she’s about to launch a redesign and is looking for interns.

Leder wrote in an e-mail, “As for the site, it has grown nicely, but I don’t feel comfortable releasing traffic numbers. I will say that roughly 50% of my audience are professional money managers, so the site attracts elite readers. The rest is split between journalists and sophisticated individual investors. I’m currently in the process of trying to line up some sponsors for the site.”

Leder gave me a sneak peak at the redesign, which can be seen at the right.

The blog has been named a Top 10 business blog by BusinessWeek, CNN/Money, and the Financial Times. It was also named a ‘blog for those in-the-know’ by the Wall Street Journal and in August 2006, was named one of Time magazine’s ’50 coolest’ websites.

As far as interns, Leder says she’s “looking for an intern with strong writing and investigative skills who can help me gather material for the blog by reading various SEC filings, including 10Ks, 10Qs and proxy statements. To do this, you need to be naturally inquisitive and have an eye for small details. You should also be reasonably comfortable working with numbers.

“Think of a cross between Brenda Starr and Warren Buffett. Though I’m based in New York, I’m open to any intern who is comfortable working remotely and communicating via e-mail. Strong writing are also important because you will have a chance to post items to the blog, which is routinely mentioned in The Wall Street Journal, New York Times and other newspapers and magazines.”

Disclosure: One of my former master’s students, Adam Linker, interned for Footnoted.org this past summer.