Category Archives: Researcher stories

Paid summer reporting internships available for MSU students at five Michigan news organizations

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Michigan State University students with diverse backgrounds and life experiences are eligible for five paid internships this summer at major multi-media Michigan news organizations.

These internships through MSU’s Knight Center for Environmental Journalism meet the MSU J-School’s internship requirement. Environmental expertise or particular interest is not required. But you’ll gain both.

The application deadline is 10 p.m. on March 26, 2025

Four internships are with members of the Great Lakes News Collaborative, a group of independent and multi-media news organizations. They are:

  • Bridge Michigan, Michigan’s largest nonprofit news service
  • Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television, a monthly magazine-style television program with online daily reports
  • Circle of Blue, a Traverse City-based news service reporting on worldwide water challenges
  • Michigan Public – Michigan’s largest NPR news outlet.

A fifth internship is at Planet Detroit, an independent nonprofit local news organization that reports on the environment and public health in Detroit and Southeast Michigan.

FAQ

Q: Who is eligible?

A: Michigan State University students with diverse backgrounds and life experiences. That includes students graduating at the end of spring semester 2025 or later. It includes students who major in journalism, digital storytelling and other relevant majors. Continue reading →

Remembering Madison Hall

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Madison Hall poses for a photo in front of mountains in Polynesia.

Madison Hall poses for a photo in front of mountains in Polynesia.

Madison Hall, a Knight Center alum who changed careers from the world of finance to the environmental world, died on New Year’s Day at age 66.

Madison earned a master’s degree in environmental journalism in 2007, then stayed at MSU for doctoral studies in Fisheries & Wildlife.

Madison’s Knight Center friend and classmate, Hannah Northey, said, “For the past few years, Madison Hall traversed the globe giving science- and environment-focused lectures aboard cruise ships. Madison’s genuine love for the natural world came through these presentations to rave reviews. No matter the destination, Madison enthusiastically shared in-depth knowledge on topics ranging from glaciers in Alaska to marine life in Australia.”

Knight Center to host speaker on energy and politics

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David Spence

David Spence

David Spence, a professor of energy regulation at the University of Texas Austin, will speak on “The Misunderstood Politics of the U.S. Energy Transition” on Thursday, Sept. 5, from noon until 1.p.m.

Spence’s free public presentation will take place in Room 191 of the Communication Arts & Sciences Building.

He will discuss his new book, Climate of Contempt: How to Rescue the U.S. Energy Transition from Voter Partisanship (Columbia University Press).

“The problem is not that elected politicians are unresponsive to voters, but that changes in electoral competition and the information environment have made politicians more responsive to the most negatively partisan voters, who in turn drive public (mis)understanding of the clean energy transition as a political challenge,” Spence says.

Earlier in the day he will talk with students in the Environmental Reporting class.

 

Fall opportunities: Environmental journalism jobs and scholarships for MSU journalism students.

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The MSU Knight Center’s initiative to diversify reporters and reporting on environmental challenges offers significant scholarships, training and jobs that benefit emerging and diverse student journalists in any field.

 One focus of the program is on building expertise with paid opportunities to cover environmental threats that particularly harm marginalized communities. We’re looking for students who contribute to diversity to report on how environmental decisions threaten social justice, civil rights, the health and values of diverse communities.

The expertise of journalists is their lived experience. When it is diverse, better reporting happens and better decisions are made about environmental threats.

The program does not require environmental experience.

Right now the program is soliciting candidates for two programs:

  • A three-credit scholarship for three MSU journalism students to enroll in an MSU environmental reporting classes  (JRN 472) in Fall 2024. These classes can meet graduation requirements. They are worth $1,800.
  • A paid job reporting for the center’s award-winning Great Lakes Echo news service. Gain reporting experience, training and a paycheck. Get published by GreatLakesEcho.org and other major news providers.

The deadline for both programs is September 10.

Interested? Before midnight September 10, 2024, send to MSU Knight Center at mille384@msu.edu:

  • a resume.
  • copies of or links to up to any three stories you’ve produced for publication or class.
  • contact information for one reference and how you know that person.
  • about 250 words on how your background and lived experience brings diversity to environmental reporting. You may be culturally or racially diverse or you may list evidence of experience or interest in diversity or suggest environmental story ideas that exhibit such interest.

These programs may help you better qualify for more opportunities in Spring 2025, including internships and conference travel. The deadlines and details will be announced after the first of the year. These opportunities include:

  • Interview for paid summer environmental reporting internships exclusively provided to MSU students who contribute to diversity. They are offered by Bridge Michigan, Detroit Public Television, Michigan Public Radio, Circle of Blue and Planet Detroit
  • At least two students contributing to diversity will receive fully funded trips to the weeklong Society of Environmental Journalists annual conference next spring in Arizona.

While not required, participation in the environmental classes or as a Great Lakes Echo reporter will better qualify you for the internships and the conference.

More about this program here. Questions: Eric Freedman at freedma5@msu.edu