The Wall Street Journal's Opinion section is seeking beginning journalists -
juniors, seniors or recent graduates with reporting and writing backgrounds at
their school newspapers or elsewhere - for 10-week paid summer internships in
our New York City office.
Our internships - formally, the Bartley Fellowships - are in honor and memory
of our section's former Editor, Robert L. (Bob) Bartley. Opportunities will be
awarded to young thinkers and writers who intend to pursue a career in
journalism, whose views are broadly consistent with Bob's, and the Opinion
section's, philosophy. It is essential that applicants be familiar with, and
interested in, the ideas for which the Journal editorial page stands.
Several fellows will be selected each year through an application process that
will be judged by senior editors. Bartley Fellows will be assigned to a
department within the Opinion section - Editorials; Features (Op-Eds and
Columns); Arts in Review; or Book Reviews. They will assist in researching,
writing and editing content for the print and digital editions of the Journal,
and will contribute as needed to social media and digital production tasks.
While they're assigned to a department for the summer, all interns are
encouraged to submit their ideas for articles or projects to editors in any
part of the Opinion section.
Internships are paid, and generally take place over June, July and August,
though start dates can be flexible in certain circumstances.
If you are interested in applying for both the Opinion and Books/Arts Bartley
fellowships, please submit an application to both positions.
Guidelines and Application Deadline
Applicants should have direct experience writing or editing in a journalism
context. A demonstrated ability to multitask and meet daily deadlines is
critical for success. Applicants should be familiar with technology as it
relates to journalism. Social media experience with a publication or brand
would be a plus.
Students from any discipline may apply, but historically, we’ve been most
interested in students concentrating in Journalism, Communications, Economics,
Political Science, International Studies, History, a Foreign Language,
Statistics, Finance, Pre-Law, Science, Business, Marketing, Religious Studies
or Philosophy. Students from outside these disciplines are welcome to apply
and should include a three-sentence case in their cover letter for why their
field of study would be an asset for the section.
If you’d like to be considered, please submit the following in one single,
complete PDF file:
- A cover letter
- Your resume
- Links to or cited full text of your best clips
- Your response to one of the following prompts in no more than 600 words
- Write an editorial either consistent with the WSJ’s philosophy in response to a current event in the news, or defending your most controversial opinion.
- Write a sample letter to the editor responding to a recent WSJ editorial, Op-Ed or column.
- Compare and contrast two opposing arguments from any reliable, professional source(s) on the same topic.
- Choose one recent Opinion piece (choose from all Opinion content, including but not limited to editorials, op-eds, columns, letters to the editor, book reviews, art/film/television reviews, etc.) and send a suggested headline, subhed, Tweet and Facebook post. Feel free to include additional ideas for related multimedia assets or promotion for other social networks.
- Submit a potential submission for an investigative Op-Ed or original Opinion piece that breaks news.
All materials must be received by January 31, 2018 and a decision will be made
by the end of February. Only applicants who are selected for final
consideration will be interviewed.
About Bob Bartley
Throughout his 30 years as The Wall Street Journal’s Editorial Page Editor,
Bob Bartley inspired principled and original thinking that changed and shaped
the society in which we all live. He also devoted attention to teaching and
motivating talented young people, many of whom have gone on to careers in
journalism at the Journal and elsewhere. The Bartley fellowships are
consistent with that legacy.
Bob Bartley achieved many honors during his long tenure here, including a
Pulitzer Prize and, shortly before his death in December 2003, the
Presidential Medal of Freedom. In awarding that medal, President Bush cited
Bob as “one of the most influential journalists in American history.” The
Robert L. Bartley fellowships will help to perpetuate not just Bob’s memory
but, above all, the principles and priorities to which he devoted his
distinguished career.
About the Opinion Section
Following the American newspaper practice, the heads of News and Editorial
report independently to the publisher of the Journal and CEO of Dow Jones,
William Lewis. The Editorial staff is responsible for the Opinion content
published on WSJ.com, the editorial and op-ed pages of The Wall Street Journal
in print, and criticism of books and the arts, which are recognized at the
Journal as an Opinion function.
While The Wall Street Journal’s news pages are committed to informing our
readers, our editorials are dedicated to advocating a consistent philosophy
and positions that emanate from it. That philosophy can be summed up as "free
markets, free people." We have stood for these fundamental principles even in
times -- and places -- when they were not considered fashionable. While
specific issues differ in various parts of the world, we view those issues
through a consistent lens everywhere; for example, while protectionism is more
popular in some parts of the world than others, our publications around the
world are committed uncompromisingly to free trade.
We believe in the individual, in his wisdom and his decency. We oppose all
infringements on individual rights, whether they stem from attempts at private
monopoly, labor union monopoly or from an overgrowing government. Our section
is not easily pigeonholed or predictable. We resist the label "conservative,"
in the sense of preserving the status quo, because we think it too confining,
too devoid of the optimism inherent in trusting individual wisdom and decency.
It is also important to state clearly what our section does not represent. It
is not partisan. Unlike many American publishers, we do not endorse political
candidates, and from time to time we have important disagreements with all
leading political figures. We view issues through the lens of our philosophy
and let our readers decide which person or party best serves to protect market
capitalism and self-government.
We believe that the ultimate function of opinion journalism is the same as the
rest of the newspaper, to inform. But in opinion journalism we have the
additional purpose of making an argument for a point of view. We often take
sides on the major issues of politics and society, with a goal of moving
policies or events in what we think is the best direction for the country and
world. Our experience over many years is that even those of you who disagree
with us on particular issues -- or even on broader philosophic grounds --
nevertheless respect us for the clarity, consistency and eloquence with which
we present our point of view. In stating our own views forcefully, we hope to
raise and sharpen the level of debate and knowledge. And we hope that our
editorials reflect not merely the passing whim of passing editors, but a body
of thought shaped by a century of tradition.