“Don’t apply,” pleads OC Weekly editor

AAN members have until Oct. 14 to submit applications for the next round of Diversity Internship grants.

AAN created the program in 2001 to help alternative weeklies hire and train top-quality minority journalists. Grants were awarded for Summer interns to Gambit Weekly and OC Weekly.

“The AAN Diversity Internship Grant has allowed OC Weekly to bring on two interns, each of whom we have crafted into formidable talents, evil geniuses, journalistic wrecking balls,” says Will Swaim, editor of OC Weekly. “Without the grant, each of these guys would’ve been forced to bus tables; instead, because of the grant, they produced fantastic journalism — investigative stories, and film, restaurant and music reviews — and sharpened their appetites for the world of alternative journalism.”

Swaim adds, “We would be grateful if you all would not apply for the grant this year: we have our eye on this hot Vietnamese American kid from Little Saigon who, with just a little mentoring, could become the alt-weekly equivalent of the Sindero Luminoso.”

Winners of the two $2,500 matching grants will be announced in November.

Members can apply by completing an AAN application form and submitting the intern’s name and writing samples. Application forms and instructions will be mailed to editors and publishers in September, or click here to download a PDF of the application form.