Paid summer internships at NJ newspapers

The New Jersey Press Foundation operates a paid summer internship program for college students who are interested in pursuing newspaper careers.

The program invites applications from students attending New Jersey colleges and for New Jersey residents who are currently enrolled at other U.S. colleges.

Eight students will be selected to intern at New Jersey daily and weekly newspapers, including the Asbury Park Press and Bergen Record. They will be paid $325 a week for eight weeks of work as reporters, photographers, copy editors, graphic artists or Web page experts. In addition, they will receive $1,000 scholarships.

The application deadline for summer 2009 internships is November 15.

Asbury Park Press seeks entertainment freelancers

The Asbury Park Press in northern Jersey is seeking freelance writers to cover events , clubs, etc. The articles will be posted to its web site. Freelance rate of $50 per article of 400-500 words.

Free N.J. Event: Reporter offers advice to college journos

Alex Biese, an award-winning young reporter at the Asbury Park Press, will speak at Monmouth University in Northern Jersey on March 24.

Biese, a 24-year-old MU alumnus, will discuss life as a professional journalist, offer advice to college journalists, and provide tips on landing an internship or first job. A Q&A will follow.

The discussion begins at 2:30 p.m. in Room 135 of MU's Plangere Center, in West Long Branch, N.J. Click here for directions. For more info, contact Professor Mark Grabowski at mark(at)cubreporters(dot)org.

Asbury Park Press launches student-run blog

My journalism students are writing a blog for the Asbury Park Press.

The online journal, named "MUspace," reports goings-on at Monmouth University (MU) and in the surrounding town. It’s updated daily.

The Asbury Park Press is a Pulitzer Prize-winning daily newspaper based in Neptune, N.J., with a circulation of about 160,000. The blog is one of several new features the Gannett newspaper will introduce in coming weeks as part of a major upgrade of its Web site.

Publishing articles isn’t anything new for my students, who this semester have had articles accepted for publication in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Asbury Park Press, Gloucester County Times and other newspapers.

Why am I telling you this? To illustrate some of the good opportunities available to enterprising young journalists. For more ideas on how to get published while in high school or college, check out my upcoming column in the December issue of Quill.

-Professor Grabowski

Journalist: "Don't let anyone intimidate you"

Award-winning 24-year-old Asbury Park Press reporter Alex Biese told students at his alma mater that the toughest part of reporting is getting public officials to talk.

"Don't let anyone intimidate you," he advised a Monmouth University journalism class on Oct. 22. The public needs reporters to be inquisitive and dogged in getting answers. "You are a conduit for the public to know."

Biese, a 2006 graduate, also offered advice on breaking into journalism, including landing an internship. For more info, see The Outlook story on page 11.

Biese's talk was part of an ongoing series of talks by professional journalists sponsored by the Communication Department.

Upcoming journalism talks this semester include:

Nov. 26: Tony Romeo, state capital bureau chief for KYW News Radio 1060 in Philadelphia, will discuss broadcast journalism. Tony has more than 20 years experience as a broadcast journalist and has covered many major stories. As an 18-year-old Penn State student, he began his professional career, covering the Three Mile Island nuclear disaster for WSBA Radio in York, Pa. He'll speak from 6:30 to 7:15 pm in room 234 of Plangere.

Dec. 10: Steve Chiger, president of the Garden State Scholastic Association, will speak about online journalism from 6 to 7:15 in room 234 of Plangere. Chiger has an M.A. in new media journalism from Northwestern and was project manager of the E-zine @Chicago. He' s also a former reporter for The Courier News and Westfield Leader. Additionally, he runs the annual summer Diversity Journalism Workshop at Monmouth.

All talks are open to the public. For more information, e-mail mgrabows(at)monmouth(dot)edu.

Openings @ Asbury Park Press

Asbury Park Press, a 160,000-circulation daily newspaper in Northern Jersey, has several editorial openings:

1. Copy editor/page designer: looking for a copy editor and page designer for the Night Desk. The position involves writing and editing obituaries; copy editing stories; writing headlines and, eventually, designing and paginating pages and slotting sections of the newspaper. The schedule is nights and weekends.

2. Breaking news multimedia reporter: looking for a reporter to work out of the main office in Neptune on our breaking news team. Involves primarily police and court news. Must be able to dictate from the scene, file updates via cell phone e-mail and laptop, then write compelling narratives for the printed newspaper; eventually, this reporter would be cross-trained to take photos and produce news videos.

3. Municipal beat reporter: looking for a reporter to cover a beat of 3-5 towns, producing stories for the Web, the core daily newspaper and a variety of non-daily niche products.

Candidates should send an e-mail, a resume and three work samples to Executive Editor Skip Hidlay at SHIDLAY@asbury.gannett.com and he'll route it to the proper editor.