Reporting Intern, HQ (Summer 2027)

POLITICO; Arlington (VA); Hybrid; USD 48,000 - 56,000; Full time

Job summary

POLITICO is seeking exceptional college students and recent graduates for its Summer 2027 reporting internship program based in Arlington, VA (HQ). Interns will work as full-time reporters on one of our policy reporting teams that cover federal government, including health care, transportation, technology and more, or join the Breaking News or Playbook teams.

You will report, write, edit, and contribute to newsletters and podcasts while gaining newsroom training.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated interest in Washington, politics and policy
• Strong foundational reporting and writing skills
• Excellent news judgement
• 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.

Responsibilities

• Cover fast-paced developments in real time for Breaking News, turning around stories quickly.
• Report as full-time beat reporters on policy coverage of federal government and its impact.
• Assist Playbook with research, aggregation, factchecking and writing for newsletters and podcasts.
• Contribute to White House coverage with breaking news, enterprise and niche coverage when possible.

Skills

Politics journalism

News writing

Deadline-driven

News judgement

Entrepreneurial mindset

Job description

Job Description

POLITICO is seeking exceptional college students and recent graduates for its Summer 2027 reporting internship program based in Arlington, VA (HQ).

Who You Are

Ideal candidates are enterprising and creative journalists who want to report and write for an audience of political and policy junkies.

What You’ll Do

We’re looking for interns on the following teams:

• Breaking News: Interns cover fast-paced developments in real time, quickly turning around stories on Washington’s most important power players and events.
• Policy: Interns work as full-time beat reporters on one of our policy reporting teams that cover the federal government role in every aspect of American life, including health care, transportation, technology, education and more.
• Playbook: Interns play a key role in curating our flagship politics newsletter, working on research, aggregation, factchecking and writing for AM and PM newsletters and podcasts.
• White House: Interns should expect to be an integral part of our fast-paced White House team. In any given day that could include writing breaking news, contributing to our must-read West Wing Playbook daily newsletter, executing quick-turn enterprise and possibly even — for the most ambitious and talented applicants — carving out a coverage niche from our expansive remit.

What You’ll Need

• Demonstrated interest in Washington, politics and policy
• Strong foundational reporting and writing skills
• Excellent news judgement
• 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 stories in Washington 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, including on Capitol Hill
• 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: Arlington, VA (HQ)
• Application deadline: Monday, October 26 at 11:59pm EST

Submission Materials

• Resume
• Cover Letter (in your cover letter, please rank your top three internship preferences: breaking news, policy, Playbook, White House).
• 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. Learn more about Axel Springer.