City Limits, a nonprofit news organization that’s been covering New York for 46 years, is now accepting applications from high school students for CLARIFY, its paid youth journalism training program for the fall of 2022.
Adi Talwar
2022 Summer City Limits Accountability Reporting Initiative for Youth (CLARIFY) participants with instructor and journalist Tanzina Vega.
City Limits, a nonprofit news organization that’s been covering New York for 46 years, is now accepting applications from high school students for its paid youth journalism training program for the fall semester.
The City Limits Accountability Reporting Initiative for Youth, or CLARIFY, is a paid journalism internship for New York City high school students who will be entering 11th or 12th grade in the fall of 2022. Students who graduated from high school in June 2022 are also eligible.
Interns will be trained in the essential tenets of reporting and news writing, including research, interviewing, investigative techniques, media ethics, story structure, photojournalism and more. They’ll hear from journalist guest speakers about what it’s like to work in the industry, and will work closely with City Limits’ reporters on locally focused news stories about important New York City issues, with the goal of getting those stories published in City Limits and in a student-produced newsletter.
Click here to read some of our previous interns’ work, which included stories on the impact of rising rents across the city, an investigation into lack of enforcement of New York’s plastic bag ban, a dig into the effectiveness of a key “Vision Zero” traffic safety law and much more. Past CLARIFY participants have gone on to write and report for outlets including the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Ms. Magazine, City & State and more.
Here’s feedback from some of our recent CLARIFY interns:
“I would summarize it as a one in a lifetime experience and just an eye-opening opportunity. I never got an opportunity to do this type of reporting at my school.”
“Making phone calls and reaching out to organizations will make you feel so empowered and confident. I am sure I will be carrying many of the skills I learned during this program into the rest of my life.”
“This internship will absolutely transform your life. It will teach how to ask questions and equip you with the skills to further explore those questions. You will become more comfortable communicating with people you’ve never met before. (This is coming from an introvert!)”
The fall 2022 internship will take place virtually on Zoom from Oct. 18 to Dec. 20, meeting every Tuesday and Thursday from 4 to 6 p.m. Those who perform successfully in the program will earn a $1,000 stipend.
Eligibility requirements: Applicants must reside within New York City, and be entering either their junior or senior year of high school (11th and 12th grades) or their first year of college in the fall of 2022. They should have an interest in writing and current events, and should be curious about the world around them.
City Limits will be running two separate internship cohorts this fall; please read the following information carefully to ensure you are filling out the correct application form. The deadline to submit an application is midnight on Sunday, Oct. 2.
Click Here to Apply for the Bilingual Cohort (Una Ciudad Sin Limites): This group is for bilingual applicants who speak English and Spanish. Participants in the bilingual cohort will produce reporting for City Limits’ Spanish-language news initiative, Una Ciudad Sin Limites.
Click Here to Apply for the English-Language Cohort: This group is for English-speaking applicants; no Spanish-language skills required. *Please note: Due to high demand for the English-language Cohort, applicants with Spanish-language skills are strongly encouraged to apply for the Bilingual Cohort.*
If you have questions about CLARIFY, please contact editor Jeanmarie Evelly by emailing jeanmarie@citylimits.org.
