Deborah Brewster, the deputy managing editor at The Wall Street Journal who oversees its internship program, writes for CollegeBizJournalism.org that the paper will cut its interns in half in 2011, from 30 this year to about 15.
Brewster says that the number of interns in the past few years has been unusually high.
In giving advice to potential applicants, Brewster writes, “Next year, we will be taking fewer interns — about 15 — but we will still offer a broad range of possible placements. We remain primarily an organization of specialists, and it helps us if the applicant nominates a preferred area of specialty. We cannot guarantee to accommodate it, but it helps with placement.
“Because we are a national paper, it also helps if the applicant indicates where they would ideally like to be placed, and whether they are open to moving cross-country for the internship.
“We take the view that there are many paths to becoming a successful journalist. We look for a body of work which indicates that the person is serious about a career in journalism, and has already taken steps towards that.”
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