Local Internship

SUMMER 2006 INTERNSHIP

Take Back the Hill

The Center for the Arts in Society at Carnegie Mellon is seeking interns for Take Back the Hill, a youth newspaper written, produced, and distributed by students in the Hill District, a predominantly African-American neighborhood in Pittsburgh. The newspaper offers Hill teens an apprenticeship in which they are responsible for running a newspaper, from pitching stories to the final press run. They participate in reporting, editing, layout, photography, circulation, marketing, and distribution.

As mentors, consultants, critics, and readers, Carnegie Mellon interns act as curricular leaders. Center faculty may serve as advisors to and resources for interns on the project.

The Take Back the Hill program generally lasts 8-10 weeks per issue, during which times students take part in hands-on research, interviewing, analyzing, and synthesizing. They delve into thematic topics, and gain important journalistic, artistic and research skills, while pursuing issues of community importance in the Hill District.

Interns and participants in the program will decide how often to meet and hold workshops. These workshops will cover skills in writing, interviewing, photographing, and other elements of putting together a newspaper. Student interns may also invite visitors to the workshops, from the community and from Carnegie Mellon. Workshops are held in the Blakey Building of the Hill House Association, at a time that is convenient for both the participants and the student interns.

Further details:
Summer 2006: June, July, and August; approximately 4 hours a week to run workshops for Hill participants.

Requirements: Experience with investigative research/ reporting and professional or technical writing; experience with newspaper production, lay-out, and distribution and experience working with teens desirable but not required. Other skills, like photography, drawing, cartooning will be considered as well. Travel to the Hill will be necessary. Attendance at Spring workshops would be helpful for training purposes, but not required.

Application process: Send name, academic background, a brief paragraph outlining experience in writing, journalism, communications, or design, and a description of one possible workshop for participants in the project to Judith Schachter at jm1e@andrew.cmu.edu.