For such an internationally well-known magazine, with such high production values, Tikkun has a surprisingly small staff. This means that there are excellent opportunities for interns to get significant experience in print and online magazine production and business. Our highly structured internship program enables interns to specialize in the field of their interest. Please note that all interns may occasionally be pulled away from the jobs outlined below to help with more urgent NSP- or magazine-related special projects initiated by our editor Michael Lerner. Magazine interns work under the supervision of the Managing Editor. Since Tikkun is a nonprofit, grassroots-based publication, all interns–regardless of editorial specialization–are also trained in revenue generation skills and are expected to participate in grassroots fundraising efforts and promotion of the magazine to Bay Area universities, book stores, grocery stores (which sell magazines), and other institutions to sustain the continued publication Tikkun.
To Apply for Magazine Internships:
Email a self-revealing cover letter, resume, and two writing samples to RabbiLerner.tikkun@gmail.com. In your cover letter, please indicate which type of magazine internship is your top choice and explain:
A) Why you would want to intern at Tikkun in particular? To answer this question, first read the articles on our home page www.tikkun.org and our “New Bottom Line” article at the home page of our education/outreach arm which we call The Network of Spiritual Progressives (www.spiritualprogressives.org/covenant).
B) Why you are capable of doing first-rate work in this capacity? Also indicate which magazine internships would be your second and third choices and tell us about your qualifications for them. Descriptions of the different internships are below.
C) Please also tell us when you would be ready to start, how many hours a week you’d be available, what days, and how long a commitment you could make to this (unfortunately unpaid) internship.
Please also note that we are firmly committed to non-violence and, in order for you to work here, expect you to also make that commitment.
If we are interested in your application, we will contact you and ask you to complete an additional assignment related to the type of internship for which we are considering you. No phone calls, please.
Areas of Specialization for Magazine Interns:
A group of Tikkun interns
PRINT EDITORIAL
Print editorial interns at Tikkun gain hands-on experience in magazine editing. At Tikkun—unlike at many other national magazines, where interns often find themselves fetching coffee and making photocopies—editorial interns play a central role in evaluating submissions and proofing each issue of the magazine. Editorial interns review every submission that comes in, bringing promising articles to the attention of the editorial staff. They also read articles from past issues of Tikkun and summarize these pieces in short “teasers” that are published as part of the magazine’s online archive. This internship is very selective and has the potential to launch students into careers in magazine journalism and other media fields (one of the NPR anchors was first an intern for Tikkun) as well as into careers in academia (some of our interns have told us that it was their Tikkun internship which opened doors for them in their search for academic jobs or even promotions and tenure), as well as in careers in politics). Editorial interns may have the opportunity to publish an article in the magazine or on our online Tikkun Daily Blog, but we make no guarantees—interns’ submissions are subjected to the same strict standards as any other submissions to the magazine. Editorial interns with strong writing skills and professionalism will be asked to write monthly articles for our multimedia blog site, Tikkun Daily. Candidates for this position must be hawk-eyed proofreaders with an obsessive attention to detail, a professional work ethic, and a willingness to study the Chicago Manual of Style and Tikkun’s in-house style guide.
WEB EDITORIAL
Web editorial interns at Tikkun scour the blogosphere for posts to which they think Tikkun‘s blog site should respond. They will be asked to promote Tikkun’s ideas and articles on a wide range of sites, responding to existing articles or even trying to get your own article printed elsewhere to promote Tikkun’s positions. They play a central role in finding, managing, and proofing content for the magazine’s multimedia blog site, Tikkun Daily (www.tikkun.org/tikkundaily). Web editorial interns become intimately familiar with the world of spiritual and political journalists, academics, and bloggers. They spend hours searching the Web for articles and videos about “tikkun-ish” topics to which our site should link. They also update our own social media sites and send out tweets about our articles and perspectives. Web editorial interns with strong writing skills and professionalism will be asked to write monthly articles for our multimedia blog site, Tikkun Daily. Those Web interns who are familiar enough with the magazine to have fully grasped its worldview and who demonstrate outstanding reporting and writing skills may eventually be invited to blog regularly, as well.
ART AND IMAGE RESEARCH
Art interns at Tikkun engage deeply with the question of how to illustrate articles about politics, social change, and spirituality. They work on our national magazine and on our website, generating illustration ideas and conducting image research. They play a central role in finding imagery for use on our new multimedia blog site, Tikkun Daily, which features regular photo essays and art galleries.
In the art world these days, it is quite difficult to find images that are not only artistically strong but also have social content. We need images that critique the pretensions and cruelties of our materialistic and self-centered culture. We also need artwork about peace, spirituality, hope, and social transformation that is NOT sappy, corny, or part of a New Age aesthetic. Interns are encouraged to scour museums, galleries, artists’ websites, and online image libraries to find these sorts of images.
Art interns work with the editors in Berkeley, where they develop relationships with freelance artists, obtain permission to reprint images, and brainstorm ways to illustrate the complex concepts often explored by articles in the magazine and on the magazine’s website. Interns with strong art skills may also be encouraged to try their hand at creating original illustrations to be considered for publication in the magazine.
Return to the full list of jobs and internships to keep learning about other opportunities at Tikkun.