Reporting Intern, California (Summer 2027)

POLITICO; Sacramento (CA); Hybrid; USD 26,000 - 37,000; Full time

Job summary

POLITICO is seeking exceptional college students and recent graduates for its Summer 2027 reporting internship in Sacramento, California reporting from the State Capitol. The intern will play a critical role in our coverage of the state legislative session and the governor.

You'll work with the California Playbook team, write and produce our daily newsletter, help with research, reporting, writing, editing and aggregation, and cover policy and politics for state and national audiences.

Qualifications

• A passion for politics and policy and a thirst to learn about California politics and government.
• Ability to work early mornings or late in the evening to help with California Playbook.
• Strong foundational reporting and writing skills.
• Excellent news judgment.
• Ability to work quickly and efficiently under deadlines.
• Entrepreneurial mindset.
• Proven newsroom experience; at least one professional news media internship or job preferred.

Responsibilities

• Work with our California Playbook team to write and produce our daily newsletter on politics in the nation’s largest state
• Be involved in all aspects of content creation and production, including research, reporting, writing, editing and aggregating. Some of this work may occur during the early morning hours or late in the evening
• Contribute to the reporting of a dynamic team covering policy and politics of California for both in-state and national audiences
• Cover spot news in policy and politics in and around the State Capitol

Skills

Reporting and writing

News judgment

Deadline-driven

Entrepreneurial mindset

Newsroom internship

Job description

POLITICO is seeking exceptional college students and recent graduates for its Summer 2027 reporting internship in Sacramento, California reporting from the State Capitol. The intern will play a critical role in our coverage of the state legislative session and the governor.

Who You Are

You’re an enterprising and creative journalist eager to report and write for an audience of political and policy junkies in the largest state.

What You’ll Do

• Work with our California Playbook team to write and produce our daily newsletter on politics in the nation’s largest state
• Be involved in all aspects of content creation and production, including research, reporting, writing, editing and aggregating. Some of this work may occur during the early morning hours or late in the evening
• Contribute to the reporting of a dynamic team covering policy and politics of California for both in-state and national audiences
• Cover spot news in policy and politics in and around the State Capitol

What You’ll Need

• A passion for politics and policy and a thirst to learn about California politics and government
• The ability to work early mornings or late in the evening to help with California Playbook
• Strong foundational reporting and writing skills
• Excellent news judgment
• Ability to work quickly and efficiently under deadlines
• Entrepreneurial mindset
• Proven experience in a newsroom. At least one professional news media internship or job preferred.

Why Intern at POLITICO?

• Cover the biggest CA politics stories as they unfold, with a behind-the-scenes view of how news gets made
• Be a full-time reporter. Work independently (and with your team) on breaking news, enterprise, newsletters and more
• Report in the field as needed
• Build your skills through biweekly intern-specific trainings, newsroom sessions and direct feedback

Internship Details

• Dates: June-August 2027
• Pay: $23/hr
• Schedule: Hybrid, full-time 40 hours/week
• Location: Sacramento, CA
• Application deadline: Monday, October 26 2026 at 11:59pm EST

Submission Materials

• Resume
• Cover Letter
• 3-5 original clips to showcase your experience. Please attach as PDFs or links that are publicly accessible. Do not submit clips behind a paywall.

About Us.

POLITICO illuminates the forces shaping global power. Since 2007, we have delivered intelligence that anticipates tomorrow's headlines, not reports on yesterday's news. As politics has increasingly become the defining force of our era, our work has never been more vital.

Cabinet secretaries and Ministers start their mornings with our analysis. CEOs shape strategy around our reporting. Advocacy leaders rely on our insights to move policy. We deliver the straightforward facts and clear-eyed analysis they need to navigate the most complex political landscape of our lifetimes.

Our 1,100+ publishing professionals across the world's key democratic capitals—Washington, Brussels, London, Paris, Berlin, Sacramento, and New York—form the world's premier politics and policy newsroom. We tell the story of how power really works by explaining who wields it and how they plan to exercise it, connecting dots others miss and delivering scoops from sources others don't even know exist.

Innovation has always been a core tenet of our story. At launch, we bet that depth would trump scale, that talent would trump traffic, and that politics would become central to modern life. In 2011, we made another bet and launched POLITICO Pro to help decision-makers understand the business of government, transforming both how they shape government action and the business of journalism itself.

These bets have made POLITICO the most successful digital news startup of its generation and the indispensable resource for leaders who shape the future. Today, we are a rarity in media: a growing, profitable, and sustainable news organization.

POLITICO is a subsidiary of Axel Springer SE, a family-owned transatlantic media company headquartered in Berlin and New York. Axel Springer is dedicated to shaping the future of journalism in the free world, believing that a free and informed society is essential to democracy. The company’s guiding principles - first articulated as The Essentials by founder Axel Springer in the aftermath of World War II - remain a cornerstone of the company’s foundation today. Learn more about Axel Springer.

Posting Date

2026-09-25

Title

Reporting Intern, California (Summer 2027)