Concordia and Le Devoir partner to offer paid internships
Students from across the four faculties can apply for a paid internship with Le Devoir thanks to an agreement between the French-language media outlet and Concordia.
One intern will be selected for an eight-week summer placement. A working knowledge of French is required.
“Concordia is proud to partner with Le Devoir,” says Graham Carr, president and vice-chancellor.
“These internships give students the opportunity to apply their education to the real world in real time. They’ll be transforming not only themselves in the process but the community at large.”
The internship agreement will support one intern for eight weeks from mid-June to the end of August, ending in 2023.
“This partnership is a meaningful way to train budding journalists and offer invaluable mentorship opportunities to our staff,” says Brian Myles, publisher of Le Devoir.
“Thus creating a reciprocal relationship that enriches while it educates.”
From left: Lea Sabbah and Ian Down are undergraduate students in the Department of Journalism.
‘Rare hands-on opportunities’
For the inaugural year in 2019, Le Devoir hosted Concordians Ian Down and Lea Sabbah. Both are undergraduate students in the Department of Journalism.
“My internship at Le Devoir provided me with rare hands-on opportunities that I'm not likely to get from any other internship,” says Down.
“It was a good opportunity to improve my French-language skills, given how important it is to have a strong grasp of the language in this province.”
During their placement, Down and Sabbah collaborated on a Canada-wide investigation into lead levels in drinking water. It was facilitated by Concordia’s Institute for Investigative Journalism (IIJ), a consortium of university journalism departments and media outlets across Canada, of which Le Devoir is a member.
“My typical work day consisted of fact-checking and helping to produce and edit articles for the investigation,” Sabbah says.
Working under the supervision of a staff member at Le Devoir, interns are immersed in the day-to-day operations of the paper; tasks vary and can include publication of the intern’s work in Le Devoir’s print and digital platforms.
“It's not often you're trusted with writing, editing, interviewing and research for such a large and complicated story,” adds Down.
Applications for the summer 2020 internships at Le Devoir are now open. Interested students in any discipline can apply before February 28, 2020 at 11:59 p.m.
