IRIN Internship Programme

IRIN is looking for smart, hard-working individuals to join our small, passionate team, which works remotely around the world. Get hands on experience and work with experienced journalists covering the most important beat of all: life and death. Interns are considered an important part of our operations and are given significant opportunities to grow (our current Director is a former IRIN intern!)

IRIN offers editorial and external relations internships at several intervals throughout the year (the start and length are flexible depending on availability):

Editorial	External Relations
Minimum commitment of 3 months	Minimum commitment of 6 months
Summer: May to August 1 March deadline	January to June 1 December deadline
Fall: September to December 1 August deadline	July to December 1 June deadline
Winter: January to April 1 December deadline

You are welcome to apply at any time, but please note we will only contact you if you are selected. Our recruitment process may include a skills test. 

About IRIN

IRIN is one of the world’s leading sources of original, field-based journalism about humanitarian crises. Our journalists report from 70 crisis zones around the globe on everything from conflict to natural disasters, from migration to pandemics, amplifying the voices of those most affected and driving more effective prevention of crisis and a better aid response.

After 19 years as part of the United Nations, IRIN spun off in 2015 to become an independent non-profit media organisation, now headquartered in Switzerland. Our journalism has prompted public petitions, donations and charity telethons, new aid programmes, debates in local parliament and changes in UN policy. Find out more about us here.

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EDITORIAL INTERNSHIP

Location: Flexible - remote work
Status: Full-time
Compensation: 500 USD/month
Contract length (and deadline): May to August (1 March deadline), September to December (1 August deadline), and January to April (1 December deadline). Contract length and start is flexible depending on availability, but we require a minimum commitment of 3 months.
Requirements: Applicants must be holding or studying for a Masters degree in journalism, international relations or related fields

Overview:  IRIN is looking for editorial interns to support our team of editors throughout the year who are smart, hard-working, and interested in pursuing a career in humanitarian journalism to contribute meaningfully to our production with story ideas, research, and reporting. Candidates should have a passion for uncovering stories, a flair for writing, and the determination to get to the truth and tell it as it is. With the assistance of our experienced editors, this internship will not only teach prospective journalists how to pursue a lead and help mine the data, but also give them opportunities to be published by IRIN and our partners. 

Published work produced by IRIN interns includes:

Illegal weapons: A global guide

Three notable innovations in humanitarian aid in 2016

EXCLUSIVE: UN paying blacklisted diamond company in Central African Republic

Depending on skills, the role may include:

Media monitoring and pitching ideas at the daily editorial meeting

Conducting interviews

Writing original copy (strong writers will be given bylines)

Editing content

Layout and visual presentation

Repackaging content for different platforms (Storify, Medium)

Data visualisation (word clouds, charts, interactive maps)

Research and fact-checking

Freedom of information requests

Data processing and analysis

Reporting on events/conferences

Managing social media feeds

Making tailored promotional material (GIFs, quote cards, myth busters)

Applicants with investigative, data journalism and/or HTML/java script skills will be favourably considered, as will applicants with additional languages.

As part of IRIN’s decentralised nature, interns will work remotely, connecting with the team on a near-hourly basis through Skype and our virtual newsroom on the messaging platform Slack.

How to apply

Please send your CV, cover letter and samples of relevant work to jobs@irinnews.orgwith the subject line "Editorial Internship”.

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EXTERNAL RELATIONS INTERNSHIP

Location: Geneva, Switzerland
Contract length (and deadline): January to June (1 December deadline), July to December (1 June deadline). Contract length and start is flexible depending on availability, but we require a minimum commitment of 6 months.
Status: Full-time
Compensation: 500 CHF/month
Deadline: Ongoing
Requirements: Applicants must be students or recent graduates (please apply within six months of completing your studies)

Overview: IRIN is looking for smart, hard-working individuals to help us expand funding and syndication partnerships, execute our outreach strategy, and improve our visibility. You will be working with our Director of External Relations and Outreach and Reporting Officer. We are a small team, which means a minimal level of bureaucracy and plenty of scope for the right individual to take on responsibility and come up with their own ideas. 

You will support IRIN’s efforts to:

Identify and approach new donors

Liaise with donors and other stakeholders

Keep our donor contact database and funding prospects tool up-to-date

Apply for awards

Identify and approach new media partners

Track our impact (such as re-publications, notable feedback on social media etc.) in a centralised document

Run campaigns on social media

Participate in and organise key events

Produce our annual reports and donor newsletters

Applicants who are fluent in French will be favourably considered.

How to apply

In an email to jobs@irinnews.org, with the subject line “External Relations Internship”, send us:

Your CV

A cover letter outlining why you’d like to work with IRIN in particular and how your experience has prepared you for the role

Confirmation that you are a student or have graduated not more than six months prior to your application