The Multimedia Division at Human Rights Watch (“HRW”) is seeking undergraduate or graduate students in journalism, international affairs, film or related fields to intern for the fall semester in the New York office. Ideally, the candidate will be available for three months—timing is flexible. This internship is for students interested in a human rights or journalism career, who hope to acquire training and hands-on experience in video production and photo editing. Under close supervision of the Multimedia team, interns will have the opportunity to learn and be involved in every step of the production process, including: participating in production meetings and researcher interviews, transcribing, searching archives for footage, subtitling footage, editing photos and using video editing software.
This is an unpaid internship. It is recommended that students secure funding through external scholarships and grants. Students are often able to arrange academic credit, as HRW internships often offer direct exposure to the workings of an international human rights organization, close supervision by the HRW staff, interaction with other international organizations and foreign and domestic government officials, and opportunities to attend lectures, trainings, and special events relating to human rights. Students should check with their individual academic institutions for requirements.
- All aspects of video production workflow;
- Team meetings, video production discussions, and digital/social media strategy discussions;
- Researcher interviews in the multimedia studio;
- Multimedia content management and content distribution systems;
- Researching content to use in multimedia publications;
- Video and photo editing process; and
- Drafting scripts for full length and social media videos.
Internship Specific Program Features:
- Direct exposure to the workings of a large, international human rights organization;
- Induction training on the internal working of HRW;
- Access to HRW materials and publications;
- Attending select in-house events such as a speaker series events, and other events organized within the organization, particularly for the interns;
- Attending internal staff meeting and outside meetings and events related to human rights field;
- Access to Lynda.com online training platform; and
- Possibility to obtain academic credit (students should check with their individual academic institutions for requirements).
- Strong interest in human rights work, journalism, video production and photography are highly preferred.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills are essential.
- Some knowledge or experience using video production tools and/or working in a newsroom environment is a plus.