Just as a free and active press is critical to a healthy democracy, so a vigorous and representative student media is vital to a dynamic and engaged campus community.

The National Student News Service (NSNS) is a student media project focused on highlighting and promoting stories on student issues and student action. Students across the country are doing great work: identifying and elucidating problems facing students, taking action, holding decision makers responsible, exposing wrongdoing, and seeking the truth. Our job is to ensure that student issues get the attention they deserve, and to promote the work of student journalists.

Our primary service is the NSNS Newswire, a news digest that aggregates the best in media focused on student activism and student issues, which we distribute to a broad audience through our website, email and RSS.

We also work with students one-on-one to help build journalism skills and improve the quality of student-centered media on campus.

Interested in writing for NSNS? Learn how to submit an article.

The Budget Crunch Forum
As colleges and universities across the nation grapple with cuts to education budgets and shrinking endowments, one group bears the responsibility of keeping the student community informed: student journalists.

The Budget Crunch Forum is a new community hub for student journalists focused on the budget cuts in higher education and their implications for students. The forum will help journalists train each other in best practices on covering these complicated issues. From public records requests to covering protests on the ground, we will help journalists equip themselves to dig up the heart of the story quickly and accurately. By collaborating, we can reach new heights of balanced and in-depth reporting.

The project will combine conference calls, an online forum, an archive of useful statistics, and a timeline of articles to help journalists contextualize budget cuts at their school within the larger national trend.

NSNS is looking for interested students to give presentations on conference calls, help compile information on national budget cuts trends, and join the Student Steering Committee.

Go to Budget Crunch Forum.

Funding

The National Student News Service is funded by the Center for Public Interest Research, a national organization registered under section 501(c)(3) of the tax code. The Center, founded by the state Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs), hosts joint projects and programs of the state and student PIRGs and affiliated projects.

Staff

Leah Pine is the organizer for the National Student News Service.  Leah is a recent graduate of Oberlin College, where she studied English and Politics and was elected to three terms on Student Senate. In 2009 she worked for the Oberlin Research Group, serving as Communications Officer for their first ever Award in Innovation for the most innovative community development non-profit in the Cleveland area. During her time in college, she served as Junior Watch Officer to the SSV Corwith Cramer while conducting paleoclimatic research in the North Caribbean. She spent August 2009 organizing press conferences in California on health care reform.

Megan Fitzgerald is the senior advisor for the National Student News Service.  Megan is a 2003 graduate of the University of Wisconsin, where she worked with the Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group as a campaign coordinator and assistant citizen outreach director. While in college, Megan also worked with a number of other student organizations including the Campus Women’s Center and Associated Students of Madison (ASM).  For the past four years, Megan has worked as the program director for the Center for Campus Free Speech and as field director for the Free Exchange on Campus Coalition. 
 

Apply for an Internship!

• Are you interested in media and journalism?
• o you think campus media could do a better job of serving students?
• Do you wish coverage of student issues and activism was better?
• Are you interested in playing a formative role in a growing organization?

Join the effort to improve campus journalism nationwide and apply for an internship with the National Student News Service!

About Our Internships
Our interns are primarily responsible for the production of the NSNS Newswire, but our interns are involved in all aspects of what we do. This means monitoring news outlets, writing articles, conducting research projects, and helping to build our organization through networking and outreach. We also offer specific leadership roles within our organization, and we are interested in matching your individual strengths and interests with our service’s many needs. Some specific leadership opportunities we offer include:

• Copy Editor. The copy editor ensures we’re at the top of our game, making certain our content is clear, informative, and free of errors.
• Content Editor. The content editor develops a running list of fallback article topics (and angles) on student movements, administrative trends, and legislative happenings nationwide.
• Recruitment Coordinator. The recruitment director works with internship offices and career centers across the country to manage our internship program and works to recruit the next wave of NSNS staff.
• Webmaster. The webmaster runs our website and maintains our Facebook page.
• And more!

To Apply:
Send resume, cover letter, and a short writing sample (500 words or less) to the National Student News Service Director at: info@nsns.org.