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VOA Internships

VOA INTERNSHIPS

***VOA's Internship Program is now being offered in person as well as virtual. Please send in your application to the program manager and the appropriate department contact will follow up if they are able to accept in-person/virtual interns.​*** ​

Are you motivated, hard-working, and enthusiastic? Think about becoming a VOA intern!

Click here to learn more about VOA and the Internship program or here to learn more about VOA.

General Information

  • Location: Washington, D.C.
  • Eligibility: Undergraduate or graduate student enrolled in an accredited college or university. US citizen or have lived in the US for 3 consecutive years out of the last 5 years. We need people who are creative, energetic and willing to take initiative. You must be willing to work under pressure and have a desire to learn in a hands-on environment. Ideally, we prefer to have interns who are able to work with us a minimum of three days a week.
  • Compensation: Voluntary and unpaid (though a transportation stipend is provided)
  • Credit: College credit is available, depending on student's school
  • Majors: Journalism, Broadcasting, International Relations and related disciplines, Studio Production, Education, Graphics, Information and Library Studies, Communications and Public Relations majors
  • Benefits: Provides "real world" experience in a diverse and dynamic international broadcast network. We mentor, train and support our interns. You will leave your internship with VOA with enhanced skills and a portfolio to show to potential employers.
  • Deadlines: Apply in January-March for summer internships, in May-June for fall internships, and October-November for spring internships. Allow 4-6 weeks for processing paperwork. All answers must be typed.
  • Application: Send resume, cover letter expressing desired focus of internship and teams you would like to work on, with subject line: Internship. Highlight experience that makes you a good candidate.
  • Apply to: VOA-Internship-Program@voanews.com. Questions about the VOA Internship Program, contact: Heather Buchan: hbuchan@voanews.com

* Note to international students: Unfortunately, we are unable to assist in the procurement of United States visas.

Internships By Department

VOA Language Services

  • VOA’s nearly 50 Language Services (see fact sheet above) broadcast news and information on multiple platforms: mobile, television, radio, social media and web to Asia, Africa, Eurasia, Latin America and Iran. Fluency in broadcast languages is a plus. Interns must have a keen interest in TV/Radio news as well as a grasp of working on deadline with the ability to research, write and edit stories. They will get hands-on experience working on radio/television, social media and digital platforms. Send resume, cover letter, transcript(s), and two writing samples (news-related or features items) to Heather Buchan (hbuchan@voanews.com).

Learning English

  • Learning English produces original podcasts, videos and social media posts using a limited vocabulary to teach non-English speakers American English. Interns must have excellent research, writing and social media skills using the limited vocabulary for English learners. Students are trained in audio production, web article posting and social media audience engagement. Send resume, cover letter, transcript(s), and two writing samples (news-related or features items) to Ashley Thompson (athompson@voanews.com)

TV to Africa

  • VOA’s English to Africa Service provides multimedia news and information covering all 54 countries in Africa. Interns are included in the day to day activities of the newsroom including writing show descriptions for TV, radio and social media pages, assist with video field shoots, edit TV and radio projects using Adobe Premier, DaletPlus and Radio G editing systems, run teleprompter for live TV shows, videotape logging, topic research, guest recruit, guest greeting, and other duties. Students must have research experience, demonstrated interest in Africa and international affairs, communications skills, ability to meet deadlines and to work under pressure. Send cover letter and resume to Ndimyake Mwakalyelye (nmwakal@usagm.gov).

VOA News Center Internship Opportunities

To become a VOA News Center intern you must be ​an undergraduate or graduate student enrolled in an accredited college or university. We are looking for students studying journalism, broadcasting, international relations and related disciplines. We need people who are creative, energetic and willing to take initiative. You must be willing to work under pressure and have a desire to learn in a hands-on environment.

In the VOA News Center, we give our interns real work to do. The team you are on will be counting on you. You will need to meet deadlines and follow through on assignments. You will also have the opportunity to pitch ideas and bring them to fruition. All of our teams are small but have large missions. As such, you’ll have the chance to gain real experience and have a real impact working in an international organization. We mentor and support our interns. You will leave your internship with the VOA News Center with enhanced skills and a portfolio of what you can do, to show to potential employers.


VOA News Center Hub Interns on the VOA News Center hub are assigned a wide variety of news stories to write that will be used by VOA language services and the English website. In addition to daily international and domestic news stories, interns will be encouraged to pitch original story ideas. They will be exposed to all aspects of the NewsCenter's operation and maybe asked to help do research and conduct interviews for stories being worked on by other VOA reporters.

Press Freedom Interns with the Press Freedom team report for web, radio and TV, interviewing sources and writing news and feature articles, and assist with research on long-term projects. Interns will be assigned stories focused on global media freedom trends, and cases of harassment, censorship, and attacks on the free press. They should be comfortable conducting interviews via phone and Skype.

Polygraph.info Polygraph interns work with that team fact checking and debunking misinformation spread by Russia, China, Iran and other countries around the globe. Interns do research, reporting and writing and much more. Check us out at Polygraph.info

Social Media Interns with our Social Media team get hands-on experience creating original content, conceiving and executing campaigns and strategies to engage an international audience, and managing several social media platforms. Our Social Media interns must possess solid news judgement and be able to edit video and other multimedia with Adobe Premiere and Photoshop. They use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube and will learn to manage social media for an organization. They create content specifically for social media with the goal of grabbing readers' attention amid the flood of posts vying for attention.

Visual Content Step into the latest in visual storytelling and explanatory journalism with our Visual Content team, where interns are researching, writing and visualizing interactive digital first content for web and social media platforms. Also, producing visual elements (GFX, animation, videos, images and GIFs). Advanced editing/motion design using After Effects and Premiere Pro. Brainstorming, pitching and developing story ideas with the rest of the team. Identifying new trends and digital developments

Media Lab-VOA 60 The Media Lab produces daily VOA60 video news wraps, designed to be digestible on mobile and web in countries without wide access to digital formats and infrastructure and also on TV. They are short and punchy yet informative and entertaining. Interns will select the most compelling stories for a five story lineup, write a short explanatory headline for each, edit the piece using Adobe Premiere, and upload the product to each of our social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, synopsizing the content. They will have full ownership of the product, from stories that are to be included to technological responsibilities and publishing. Video editing experience on Adobe Premiere or other software is preferred, but not required.

Production The VOA News Center production team is looking for interns who can edit video with Adobe Premier and audio with Adobe Audition. Ability to shoot video is also a plus. Depending on skills, production interns will edit radio and TV reports as well as shoot video, create graphics; and upload/download video.

Documentaries Interns working on documentaries require strong research skills on a wide range of subjects. They provide in-depth analysis and summaries of issues being explored by the Executive Producer. They must be able to access social media platforms to find people relevant to the subject, and present their research in a cohesive way. Interns learn how to download footage for the projects and have the ability to research relevant archive and news footage necessary for the film.
They find and identify footage and organize material in coordination with the Executive Producer. Experienced interns may have the opportunity to conduct preliminary interviews to prepare for shoots. This is a great opportunity to work inside a documentary film team, in a hands-on capacity.

China Abroad We are looking for interns who are interested in and has knowledge of China and international relations. Responsibilities include research, scheduling interviews, pitching story ideas and writing stories across multi-media platforms, which may include print, TV and radio.

Planning/Special Events
Planning/Special events interns help our planning editor/special events head with calendar management, tracking special projects and outreach to all of VOA’s more than 45 language services for coordination of news coverage and special events.

Audio/Radio
VOA's News Center's radio team provides live 5-minute hourly news updates and daily/weekly long-form programs on several important topics, providing context to major stories. Interns for the radio team should have an interest in radio broadcast journalism and/or an interest in digital audio products, like podcasts. This is an intense deadline-driven environment and those seeking to participate should have a foundation in audio capture, editing, and production. Interns need to be based in DC and must be available weekdays between the hours 8am and 4pm.

New York Bureau
VOA's New York bureau offers a unique opportunity to participate in newsgathering and production in one of the most dynamic cities in the world. Correspondents and producers representing several VOA language services including English, Indonesian, Mandarin, Persian, Russian, Spanish, and Turkish work in the bureau. Responsibilities include reporting writing, video production and editing along with assisting on field shoots and studio segments, researching and fact-checking stories, setting up and logging interviews as well as organizing media assets. Interns will also have the opportunity to pitch and produce stories. Previous experience with Adobe Premiere Pro and shooting for broadcast and online platforms is helpful. Interns should have strong written and verbal communication skills as well as a deep interest in news and current events.

Please note: Our internships are currently a mix of in office and virtual work, depending on unit, supervisor schedules and other needs. We ask that all of our interns work a minimum of three days a week and that our interns give us the full semester for their internships or at least two months in the summer. We are flexible on start and end dates. Our internships are unpaid but offer the opportunity to do hands on work with one on one mentorship and result in tangible projects our interns can add to their portfolios. If you are coming to the DC office, a transit subsidy is available. Not every internship on this list may be available every semester.

To Apply
Please send a cover letter and current resume to VOA News Center Internship Coordinator Mia Bush mbush@voanews.com) with the word Internship in the subject line. Apply no later than November for Spring internships, no later than March for Summer and no later than July for Fall.

Media Asset Management Branch

  • MAM Branch interns pursuing degree in Information & Library Science, Communications, or a broadcast related field. Interns may perform in all or some of the following activities: process incoming media files (audio / video) into a MAM system; assist with authority documentation of VOA programs or related projects; review and add metadata to media records in the system; explore usage of MAM Branch services; test and vet MAM Branch workflows, search strategies, and related services. May include work with legacy assets and digitization processes. High school students supported by a school-based internship program welcome to apply. Send resume and cover letter to Pam Lenz, Media Asset Management Branch Chief (plenz@voanews.com).

Music Programming

VOA produces a number of music programs from jazz to pop, to country and regional programs. We are looking for highly motivated, energetic students who are interested in all aspects of radio, including programming, production, promotions, research, writing and social media management strategy. For general applications to all Music Programming, contact: June Simms at jsimms@voanews.com. Note your primary areas of interest and highlight experience that makes you a good candidate.

  • Music Time in Africa is VOA’s longest running radio program in English. It features Africa's finest music with weekly interviews, music news, and audience engagement. The host and executive producer Heather Maxwell is an Africanist ethnomusicologist and musical artist who has lived and performed extensively throughout Africa for over 30 years. Interns assist with various aspects of the show from sound editing to talent wrangling to research. Send cover letter and resume to Heather Maxwell (hmaxwell@voanews.com) with subject line: Internship. Highlight experience that makes you a good candidate. Apply in May for summer internships. Internships are available in Washington, D.C.
  • Border Crossings is the Voice of America's daily music program and broadcast on audio and television Monday through Friday at 1500UTC. Border Crossings airs listeners’ favorite song requests and dedications along with featuring interviews from some of the biggest names in music. Interns work on production, audio and video editing, scheduling interviews, audience interaction, assisting with locating and or filing music. Interns must have excellent skills in writing, social media and research; ability to meet deadlines, work under pressure and a desire to learn. Send cover letter and resume to Larry London (llondon@voanews.com) with subject line: Internship. Highlight experience that makes you a good candidate. Internships are available in Washington, D.C.

Learn about our internship program from previous interns!

Newsroom Intern Michelle Chavez's Experience at VOA

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