Who can apply?
- Applicants must be college juniors, seniors or graduate students enrolled in a degree program by the application deadline.
- Tracks posted for 2027 include reporters, digital and print desk editors, content strategy editors, designers, visual journalists, a graphics reporter, a data journalist and an audio producer, each with its own work-sample requirements.
- Positions are based at the Washington, D.C., headquarters, and interns are paid $1,021.13 a week.
The deadline is noon Eastern, not midnight. A student in California has until 9 a.m. Pacific on October 9, not the end of that day.
Dates, pay & program timing
All 2027 newsroom tracks share one deadline: noon Eastern on Friday, October 9, 2026. The postings went up in late August 2026. Summer 2027 program dates are not stated in the postings reviewed.
These details reflect the sources at the review date. An overview is not a live job offer. Check the official page for today's application status and the selected opening's written terms.
How to apply to The Washington Post
- Choose a track and read its materials list. Reporters send a résumé, an autobiographical essay of no more than 500 words, and no more than three clips with their role in each; data journalists may send a portfolio link or up to three data-driven clips; designers send five digital design examples in one PDF or link.
- Upload everything to the single field labeled Resume/Cover Letter/Work Samples, as the Post instructs, and list all professional experience with any gaps explained. Cover letters are not required.
- Reporters give an assignment preference in the questionnaire, then everyone submits before noon ET on Friday, October 9, 2026.
You leave FirstInternships to apply. We do not accept applications, offer referrals, or represent the employer.
Our editorial advice · not employer requirements
How to prepare a stronger application
The reporter posting says the Post values enterprise reporting that shows creative, inventive or investigative skill above conventional coverage of news events. If you have three clips, make at least one a story you found yourself, and say exactly what you did on each, since the posting asks for your role.
The 500-word autobiographical essay takes the place of a cover letter. Use it for how you came to journalism and what you want from a large newsroom, not to restate the clips the editors will already have open.
Your preparation, on this device
Make it a plan.
Checking an item saves this program. These are planning prompts, not a substitute for the employer's full requirements.
Add a stage & next actionOfficial sources & update notes
We reviewed these publisher pages on . They establish the program facts above; our preparation suggestions are independent editorial guidance.
- Washington Post careers site listing the 2027 newsroom internship tracks
- Reporter track: eligibility, deadline, pay and materials
- Data journalist track: portfolio requirements
- Designer track: five-example portfolio requirement
We do not infer deadlines, remote eligibility, or guaranteed offers from older recruiting cycles. Read our editorial process.