Advice for editors

The Star Tribune has structured its internship program to ensure that students have a good experience. Based on what has worked in Minneapolis, recruiter Brenda Rotherham suggests that newspapers:

• Provide mentors.
• Assign each intern to a main supervisor, who primarily would be responsible for the intern’s success. The main supervisor also is responsible for giving the intern regular feedback.
• Give two evaluations – a mid-term conversation about how it’s going and an end-of-the-internship conversation. Evaluations should be written and filed for future reference in recruiting.
• Include an orientation program in the first few days that covers logistics, telephones, computers and e-mail.
• Provide an overview of newsroom policies and practices. A copy editor would be introduced to the stylebook, for example. A photographer would be told about rules on altering photos.

Star Tribune interns work in various newsroom departments, Rotherham said. Some interns have written Page One stories and created section fronts. “Whatever level you are on … we meet you where you are, and we will give you as much responsibility or as little as you’re prepared to handle.”