Studio Know-how: Wisconsin Public Radio news intern Emily Winter learns the basics of studio production from WPR Producer Randall Davidson.
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Internship Program Information
WPR offers internships at its headquarters in Madison and in the Milwaukee, Green Bay, and Superior bureaus. The internship program is designed to provide students and recent graduates with an opportunity to learn about public radio news production and related areas.
Eligibility: A preferred candidate will be a recent graduate, or a current undergraduate student. However, any interested parties are welcome to apply. (If you prefer to be a volunteer at WPR, click here.)
General Information: Internships generally follow the U-W academic schedule. Interns are expected to work at least 15 hours a week. Interns may receive academic credit if an agreement is made between the WPR Human Resources Department and the intern’s college or university. This is an unpaid internship, and participants must cover their own parking and transportation expenses.
 | Experienced Mentors: Gil Halsted reviews a test recording with WPR intern Julia Monczunski. |
Application Procedures: Candidates must submit a cover letter and resume. Two or three news story samples (newspaper clips or audio reports) should be included if available. A cassette or CD is preferred for audio samples. All application items must be submitted as a complete package. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed. The screening process often involves a phone interview and maybe an in-person interview at the WPR headquarters in Madison.
Application Deadlines: WPR's internships are now filled on a rolling basis, with offers made to qualified applicants as openings occur. When sending in your materials, you should specify what period of time you'd like to begin (winter, spring, summer, fall) and a sense of your schedule (business hours only). Applications are reviewed when an opening is expected, with an offer usually made after a cycle of interviews 1-2 weeks later. Chosen candidates are usually expected to start immediately.
Mail materials to:
Wisconsin Public Radio
News Internship Program
821 University Avenue
7006 Vilas Hall
Madison, WI 53706
Fax - (608) 263-5838
News Recording: WPR reporter Shamane Mills (left) instructs intern Anneli Radestad on operating a digital recorder for field assignments.
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News Internship Details
General Duties: Interns conduct research for daily stories and long-term projects and help get news stories on the air (this could include performing routine administrative tasks). He/she should have an interest in the news, and be prepared to offer story ideas. Some journalism experience is preferred (student newspaper, radio or television work, or community newspaper or radio experience) but not required.
Daily duties : Intern may set up interviews; log tape; conduct story research for reporters and editors; sort mail; answer phones; and participate in staff meetings as required. Candidates should be interested in news and current events. Strong research skills, computer literacy, and knowledge of WPR programming is preferred.
STATEMENT ON-AIR AND REPORTING ASSIGNMENTS
For those interested, opportunities exist for WPR interns to voice and file news reports on a case-by-case basis. If you have an interest in voicing your stories for broadcast during your internship, you will be coached and evaluated by the news director -- or assistant news director-- on clarity, tone, confidence, conversational quality, and other factors.
All WPR news interns, whether in Madison or elsewhere in the state, must be cleared by the news director or assistant news director for on-air work before his or her work can be broadcast on any WPR station. This is to ensure optimal quality of our sound as presented to our audience.
It's important to note that not everyone gets on the air, but can still contribute to our newscasts through sound gathering, writing copy, filing cut and copy, or doing soundscapes (a.k.a audio postcards) or first-person narratives.
Online component: Under the supervision and direction of WPR news staff members, an intern assists with writing, researching and updating news and feature coverage on the WPR Internet site; assists in building Web pages using CFM and HTML and tools such as Sound Forge, and FTP client; encodes audio for online use; and performs routine administrative tasks.
Experience preferred in writing copy for news and feature stories, and in Web development. Must have excellent writing, researching and editing skills, and ability to work quickly, accurately and under deadline. Flexibility and creativity a plus.
