Q: First of all, thanks so much for your generosity in helping young journalists. I've been reading your site for the past few years.
Here's my question: I'm a college senior with past internships at a mid-size daily paper and a weekly news magazine. My long-term goal is to produce analytical journalism on politics and culture for either a top-tier newspaper or magazine.
Here's my dilemma: I've been offered a newspaper internship this summer at a large paper, but my assignments there would be covering suburban stories, which I already have experience doing from my past newspaper internship. I also have on the table the possibility of an internship at a well-regarded magazine covering politics and pop culture. I would get fewer clips there, but would possibly make more connections in the spheres I want to cover.
My question is this: Will the newspaper world be closed to me if I don't take the internship at the daily? Which of these opportunities bodes better for the full-time job search I will be launching in the fall?
Indecisive
A: The newspaper world will not be closed to you if you take this magazine internship.
In fact, I rather like that you will be diversifying your experience and getting a taste of what you are thinking you may one day want to do.
However, even though back-to-back newspaper internships would not be as diverse as a newspaper paired with a magazine, the double-paper gambit could be a stronger springboard.
On balance, though, if you are talking about a high-quality, news-oriented magazine, I think the chance to sample beats the strength of doubling up.
Before you accept, find out just how much writing you'll get to do -- by talking to people who have interned there before.
Either way, it sounds like you're on a good trajectory.
