Gallery Watch Internship

Dear Applicant,

Welcome to CongressNow! We are excited that you are interested in learning more about reporting internship opportunities with our fast-growing Capitol Hill publication.

CongressNow, a sister publication of Roll Call newspaper and a member of The Economist Group, is an online news service that provides coverage of all legislative action in Congress, virtually in real time. Our interns are assigned to cover Congressional hearings, to ask lawmakers questions at news conferences and to write breaking news stories — often all in one day.

Interns are a vital part of our reporting staff, and their work will in most cases be published once if not twice a day. If you want to report and write for an exciting and fast-paced publication, and learn the nuts and bolts of professional journalism, few internships will offer more opportunities than CongressNow.

Our best candidates are those who have written for a newspaper or another daily news organization, either professionally or on campus. Knowledge of policy, politics, Congress and how Washington works is a plus, as is experience writing on quick deadlines. However, all aspiring journalists with an interest in learning about Congress are encouraged to apply.

If you're interested in joining our team, please send a resume and two writing samples to our intern coordinator, Julie Restivo (julier@gallerywatch.com). Please don’t hesitate to contact us with additional questions. We look forward to hearing from you.


Sincerely,



Lou Jacobson
Editor



George Cahlink
Managing Editor






GALLERY WATCH

GalleryWatch is a real-time legislative tracking website that follows Congress’ every move, while CongressNow is a newly launched daily newsletter that covers legislation and policy on Capitol Hill. We are looking for journalism, political science, government, and English majors to spend a few months in our office working and learning. We are committed to providing our interns with practical work experience that will help them secure jobs in the future.

At GalleryWatch and CongressNow, interns are treated as regular employees and are given key responsibilities and lots of experience in the corridors of Capitol Hill. On a typical day, an intern will arrive at the office at 9 a.m. and meet with our committee editors to discuss the day’s assignments. The editors will prioritize hearings and send the intern to gather testimony from these hearings. There is usually a morning run and an afternoon run. In between trips to the Hill our interns help us with administrative tasks such as compiling contact sheets and short bill titles.

Several times a week, our interns are given the opportunity to observe a Congressional committee hearing and write an article. Congressional hearings cover a wide spectrum of topics, and we try to allow our interns to attend hearings that interest them. The articles are submitted to the committee editors within a day or two and are posted on the “Recent Committee News” section of the GalleryWatch website or in the CongressNow daily newsletter.

This is a wonderful opportunity for students to hone their writing skills, acquire clips for a portfolio, learn about our government and make contacts in the House and Senate.