Youth Sports Journalist Internship Opportunity (HYBRID)At — Kids Sports News Network

Our network is prepared to offer our internships on a \\hybrid\\ (combined virtual/on-site) basis for the 2024/2025 academic year.

Unpaid: Academic Credit Required

We are a national youth sports broadcast network looking for a Youth Sports Journalist Work Experience Candidate. Your task is to research, document, write, and present national youth sports news stories in an honest, ethical, and unbiased way, presenting these stories in a clear, engaging style. Besides the pressures of working to deadlines and getting stories out ahead of the competition, your stories must be balanced, giving all parties a chance to have their say. Your stories must be fair and lawful.

What you will gain from this experience:
-Great Resume Building Experience/Opportunity
-Exposure and Engagement with High Profile Professionals,
Organizations and Brands Connected to the Youth Sports Industry

Hours: Flexible, averaging 10 to 20 hrs per week
Compensation: Non paid work experience opportunity. Academic credit is available
Starting Date: Flexible. Assessment prior to the official start date
Location: Southern California
To Apply: Submit a cover letter, resume, and two writing samples to micah@ksnn.net. Feel free to include samples of any video journalism work you would like to share as well.

Duties may include, but are not limited, to the following:
• Writing, editing, proofreading and submitting copy for publication on tight deadlines
• Building contacts and sources for use in future stories
• Fact-checking the information given to you by sources and assistants
• Creating content for youth sports stories for airing in the broadcast and other internet platforms.
• Attend press conferences, sports events, tournaments and other events
• Interview people by phone or in person
• Respond to tip-offs, calls and news releases
• Researching, identifying and executing strategies that enable the network to get “ahead” of the story
• Researching leads and articles

Qualities:
• Inquisitive
• Excellent writer
• Good at relating to all kinds of people
• Cool under pressure
• Good at absorbing information quickly
• Interest and/or background in sports or youth sports
• Must be able to take direction and criticism well
• Background in communications, journalism, or a related field
• Some knowledge of privacy, contempt and defamation laws

Articles should include the following elements:
• Timeliness
• Conflict (fight)
• Controversy
• Proximity
• Uniqueness

Training:

Students will have the opportunity to test a future career in youth sports journalism, to determine if it is a career path that is satisfying, while applying skills they have mastered in the classroom in a \\real world\\ setting. Students will assist network staff in researching and preparing journalism content in a captivating and engaging style that leaves our audience wanting more. Students will be trained on effective interviewing techniques while covering high profile youth sports organizations and brands connected to them and will receive training on industry practices that lead to a production product that represents our network effectively. They will learn to create engaging content for print, web and television broadcast, and will learn how to identify interesting angles for story coverage. They will receive training on prepping interviewees who come from a culture which is now driven by new trends in technology, the internet, entertainment, immediate gratification, social media popularity, and pop culture emergence, which represents our core demographic.

Learning Outcomes:

Students will learn to research, write and produce youth sports related articles and content for the network's broadcasts, website and social media platforms. They will meet with the network's producers to discuss assignments, due dates and publishing schedules. Students will participate in editorial meetings, perform research, conduct interviews and attend youth sports events for which they are covering, such as games, tournaments and press conferences. They will learn to write content for publications and for broadcasts. Students will be exposed to and will engage with high profile professionals, youth sports organizations and brands connected to the Youth Sports Industry