FiveThirtyEight is is looking for a summer sports intern. The internship will be a mix of writing, research and contributing to short blog posts and longer features. You’ll be learning the precepts of sports journalism in general, and data-based sports coverage in particular.
Often, this will mean working with writers and editors to find a particular stat for a particular story, but this is not a research-only internship. You’ll be expected to pitch clever, original sports stories, and then deliver them. Ideally, these ideas will be informed not only by data, but also by enthusiasm for and curiosity about sports as they’re played and consumed. (It should not be the mission of any publication to reduce Yasiel Puig to long-division homework.)
A basic knowledge of the major sports is essential, but it can (and should!) be supplemented with expertise in topics outside the traditional areas of coverage. This can be anything from an encyclopedic grasp of the WNBA to knowing your way around advanced eSports metrics to keeping abreast of the latest developments in distance running. It’s also a plus to know something about programming languages or Web-scraping methods, though we can help you in that regard.
The summer internship, which is paid, will run from approximately June 6 to Aug. 12, and the intern will be expected to work from our office in New York City. Current students at U.S. colleges or universities are eligible, as are recent graduates who were enrolled in at least one course in the semester before the internship.
The intern may work up to 40 hours per week (with some flexibility in schedule as needed).
Click here to apply or for more details about the position. Applicants must apply online, but feel free to email Kyle Wagner with any questions. We encourage you to apply as soon as possible!