Help Wanted: Civic Engagement & Media Intern

Paid internship available with up to $4,000 stipend

|

Estimated time to read:

1–2 minutes
Zach Ross and Valerie Smaldone
Zach Ross, as sum­mer 2026 intern at WinCity Voices, inter­views Valerie Smaldone about the TV show and the new café. (Pete Koutoulas)

WinCity Voices is seek­ing moti­vat­ed, com­mu­ni­ty-mind­ed stu­dents for the Civic Engagement and Media Internship, a paid oppor­tu­ni­ty that places interns in Kentucky news­rooms to sup­port com­mu­ni­ty infor­ma­tion needs, civic par­tic­i­pa­tion, and local storytelling.

Press Forward Blue Grass funds and admin­is­ters the intern­ship, while interns com­plete their day-to-day work in a host newsroom.

The suc­cess­ful appli­cant will work most­ly remote­ly for WinCity Voices but will be required to attend week­ly in-per­son edi­to­r­i­al staff meet­ings at their office in down­town Winchester.

Compensation & Schedule

  • Stipend: $4,000 for the full intern­ship (paid by Press Forward Bluegrass)
  • Hours: No more than 28 hours per week; min­i­mum rate is $12 per hour.

Eligibility: Applicants Must Meet ONE of the Following

  • Current res­i­dent of one of Kentucky’s 54 Appalachian coun­ties, or
  • Graduate of high school in one of those 54 coun­ties, or 
  • Enrolled in a col­lege or uni­ver­si­ty locat­ed with­in the 54 coun­ties of Appalachian Kentucky. 
  • High school seniors tak­ing dual-cred­it col­lege cours­es also qualify.

Preference will be giv­en to appli­cants resid­ing in or near Clark County and who have had some col­lege and/or high school expe­ri­ence or train­ing in journalism.

Role & Responsibilities

Interns will work under the super­vi­sion of the edi­to­r­i­al staff of WinCity Voices and may engage in:

  • Reporting, writ­ing, edit­ing, pho­tog­ra­phy, or mul­ti­me­dia production
  • Audience engage­ment, dig­i­tal con­tent cre­ation, or social media work
  • Supporting com­mu­ni­ty sto­ry­telling and civic journalism
  • Assisting with news­room oper­a­tions or pub­lic-fac­ing communications

Civic Engagement Project Requirement

Approximately 10% of the intern­ship must be spent design­ing and lead­ing a civic engage­ment project that strength­ens local demo­c­ra­t­ic participation.

Press Forward Bluegrass is build­ing a net­work of emerg­ing jour­nal­ists, sto­ry­tellers, and civic lead­ers. Join us in strength­en­ing local news and sup­port­ing vibrant, informed com­mu­ni­ties across Kentucky.

To apply

Please email your inquiry to Pete Koutoulas at petek@wincitymedia.org by September 1.

Please share this story!