Editorial Intern

IMPORTANT: Internships are unpaid, therefore interns must be eligible to receive academic credit during the Summer 2024 semester for their internship. If you are a student, contact your career counselor for more information. 

We expect all interns to work 2-3 full days per week, though half days are permissible on a case-by-case basis to accommodate some school schedules.

All applicants should submit a resume and cover letter, preferably with links to past writing samples and clips.

Observer is a premier online editorial platform. For the past two decades, we have captured a loyal readership through witty, irreverent and opinionated coverage of society, technology and innovation, real estate, arts, culture and entertainment. Although the New York Observer has been discontinued as a print publication, its legacy endures through our digital platforms.

Observer has published many of the nation’s top journalists, critics and essayists over the years, including Joe Conason, John Heilpern, Rex Reed, Andrew Sarris, Robert Gottlieb, Ron Rosenbaum, Susan Faludi and Peter Bogdanovich. In the mid-1990s, the New York Observer published “Sex and the City,” Candace Bushnell’s column on Manhattan’s social life that inspired the hit television series and subsequent films.

Observer interns do more than research and fact-check articles as they move from writer to editor to publication. Primarily, interns are tasked with working within one of Observer’s verticals (e.g., business, lifestyle or arts) and assisting that section’s editor. Interns will be expected to write about one article per week while at Observer, developing their own beat and byline. When not on deadline, interns are encouraged to become acquainted with Observer’s editors and writers, support newsroom operations, contribute to longer-term editorial projects and do their own research and reporting.

Observer’s newsroom boasts a unique and tight-knit team culture that benefits from the energy of its reporters and the experience of its editors. Though much of the team is remote, we have daily meetings and frequent check-ins. There are also opportunities to come into the office. Interns are fully integrated into this hybrid environment, where they have the opportunity to gain invaluable reporting, online editorial and in-person newsroom experience. 

Observer runs three internship sessions a year: Spring (early January through May), Summer (June through August) and Fall (early September through December). Some interns continue to write for us after their internships end. Observer also not infrequently hires from its pool of interns, present and past.