To intern or not to intern?

Agree on the unpaid. I made $255 a week and $290 a week (cheap even for those days, yes, but better than nothing) doing a pair of internships for major metros back in the mid 1980s. They were well worth it and 15 years after the fact, I'd have a hiring manager see that on my resume and say "this guy worked at such and such, and such and such....he's good, we gotta get him in here!" In short, find a paid internship if it's going to be after you've already graduated. If all you can find now is unpaid, you're better off finding a regular job that pays. I know when I applied for mine, early December was pretty much the cutoff date for the big boys. But you may find some of the mid-sized papers that offer paid internships -- and there are a lot of those out there -- are still looking. But I'd get a packet together ASAP.

 

Depending on what you want to do in newspapers, I suggest looking at another avenue - such as working as an agate clerk or some other lower-level entry job at a major metro instead of doing the internship. If you're working at the large paper already, then you can acquire real-world experience, you're getting paid for it, and you have access to columnists and editors with whom you can network.

And, most importantly, that old saying - in the right place at the right time - could work to your advantage because if you're already on the payroll and you've made it known you want to work your way up the ranks, then the SE or ASE might consider you for more opportunities and wah-la, you're now working at a major metro full-time.