Welcome to HNN!

History News Network (HNN) (http://HNN.us) was created in June 2001 and features articles by historians about current events. The publication is the brainchild of historians and journalists who are fed up with the superficiality of sound bite, what-happens-today-is-all-that-counts journalism. The aim is to give journalists and the public a one-stop-shopping website where current events are constantly being put into perspective by historians. HNN is the only website on the Internet wholly devoted to this task. We average nearly 300,000 unique visitors a month.

HNN needs interns to help put out the magazine. If you want experience in Internet journalism, editing, or graphics, this is a dream job which will look great on your resume and give you invaluable experience. Interns are encouraged to write for the magazine.

The editor of HNN is Rick Shenkman, a journalist and historian who can regularly be seen on MSNBC, Fox News and CNN.

HNN has been cited by Newsweek, the LA Times, Slate, and the NYT.

Nitty Gritty

Internships are not paid positions. But students may be able to apply for class credit.

Hours: Usually 6 hours per week.

Place of Work: Students may do their work at home or the library. Students communicate with the editor through email. Students do not have to come into the office (located in Pioneer Square, in Seattle, WA).

All students are welcome to apply, regardless of class level. Enthusiasm is key.

Basic Responsibilities at HNN.

No matter what specific jobs you’ve been assigned, every week every intern should do the following:

#1: Be sure to sign up for the HNN Newsletter

#2: Every Friday you should send in a report reviewing your activities. Use a bullet format and be brief.

• Surf the Internet for news about interesting history sites we can tell our readers about.
• Promote the website by clicking onto discussion groups and chat rooms and news groups and letting participants know about articles that might be of interest. Because these groups usually dislike pure announcements, be sure to actually say something relevant to the conversation at hand in addition to providing a link. Never disguise your identity. As journalists we must be open and honest. If we aren’t, how can we demand that others be?
• Brainstorm to help the editor develop new ideas for cover stories and articles.
• Be on the look out for interesting writers. Email them if you see a good book review or essay and ask if they’d be interested in writing for HNN. We can’t pay anybody, but we can offer them a national forum.
• Suggest graphics we can use to help enliven the site.
• Dream up ways we can promote the site and sign up new members to our free weekly newsletter.
• Go through the H-Net listserves and find interesting topics for us to cover. Be on the look out for interesting book reviews. (H Net address: http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/lists/) Just click on the various discussion groups, dip into the emails and see what topics might be of interest.
• Help find fodder for our new HISTORY GRAPEVINE department. It’s People Magazine for historians. Whatever seems of interest: fat advances historians have received for books; fights between editors and historians; historians hitting the best seller lists. To do this right, you’ll need to start making contacts among historians—perhaps ask your professors in the history department for help.

Specific responsibilities for internships are outlined on this page.

If You Are Interested

If you are interested in our intern program, please send a resume sent by email to Editor Rick Shenkman.

Interns ordinarily are required to sign up for 2 quarters. A summer internship is available.

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