New Virginia Media internships mark renaissance in local journalism
Aspiring William & Mary journalists now have an additional avenue to hone their craft – a new summer internship program with mentorship from award-winning reporters and editors from the Daily Press, Virginian-Pilot, and other outlets belonging to Norfolk-based Virginia Media, Inc.
In Summer ’25, the Charles Center will offer several paid internships with Virginia Media, placing students in local newsrooms between Williamsburg and Virginia Beach. Interns will have opportunities to gain skills in reporting, audience engagement, and/or videography/photography.
Students will be assigned an editor and a beat to cover as part of a team of reporters. They will also join in team meetings and have access to training sessions, according to Virginia Media Editor-in-Chief Kris Worrell.
“This internship program is a fantastic opportunity for students to build their reporting, writing and critical thinking skills,” said Worrell. “Regardless of whether they plan to become professional journalists some day, this experience can help students expand their understanding of newsgathering, storytelling, and the complexities of today’s media environment.”
The new internship program builds upon a burgeoning partnership between the Charles Center and Virginia Media that includes a journalism masterclass series led by Virginian-Pilot Education and Features Editor Denise Watson launched this fall, as well as a pilot internship program that ran last summer.
Senior Emma Henry, an environment and sustainability and history double major, completed a Charles Center reporting internship last month with the Virginia Gazette, one of Virginia Media’s six publications in the region.
“The most surprising thing about my internship was the way in which it further connected me with my own community,” Henry said. “Living in Williamsburg for the past three years, I thought I had a relatively concrete picture of the city, however, working with the Virginia Gazette expanded my knowledge of the amazing people, places, and events in this town.”
Henry’s reporting not only educated her Gazette readers but left her with a strong sense of the critical role that local journalism plays in towns like Williamsburg. She said, “It’s easy to get swept up in a national and global news cycle, but the real, nitty-gritty stories are in the heart of communities.”
Gaining practical experience in the journalism field while building a robust portfolio of published work (in Henry’s case, more than a dozen articles) allowed her to test the waters in a highly competitive field that is rapidly evolving to satisfy readers’ changing habits and to overcome unprecedented financial pressures.
“My internship gave me a taste of local journalism and the greater journalism industry,” Henry said. As a storyteller, I hope to continue my career in the journalism and communications field post-graduation, however, prior to this internship, I had no real experience working with a professional newspaper.”
Like others who have participated in Charles Center internships – whether in museums, nonprofits, or local government – Henry said that a summer of hands-on experience demystified a potential future profession and helped her create more realistic goals moving forward.
“This internship not only solidified my love of storytelling, but it also educated me about the pros and cons of the industry as a whole,” she said. “I now feel that I can enter the journalism space with a more accurate picture of what the industry looks like.”
“I believe this internship has strengthened the skills that I need to stand out in the field,” Henry added.
Indeed, Henry is standing out: though her internship ended in August, she continues to write regularly for the Gazette as a paid correspondent.
Applications for Charles Center Journalism & Democracy Fellowship Internships open Nov. 1, with a deadline of Dec. 1.
