About Bay News Rising

Welcome to Bay News Rising, a paid internship program in which professional and aspiring college journalists work collaboratively for the future of Bay Area journalism. Bay News Rising is a project of the Pacific Media Workers Guild, made possible by the labor and contributions of its members. We at Bay News Rising believe, and strive to inculcate that belief, into our student partners: that their labor is valuable, that they are professionals whose labor is valuable, and that they deserve to be paid. 

Over the years, dozens of journalism students have been part of Bay News Rising. Many have gone on to careers at newspapers, broadcast outlets and Web sites. Some have played key roles in union organizing. Others have continued their education as graduate students or entered other professions. We are proud of all of them. 

Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez, now a reporter at KQED put it this way: “Bay News Rising helped me make the journalism connections that got my foot in the door and set the course for my career. The program’s strong focus on workers and social justice ensured that I always keep those issues in mind. If you’re on the fence about signing up, hop right off that fence, and do it.” 

We have partnered with journalism educators at a number of Bay Area colleges, including UC Berkeley, San Francisco State University, and City College of San Francisco. Their help and guidance has been invaluable, and we are thankful we’ve had the chance to get to know them and so many of their students. 

“Bay News Rising has proven to be a worthy partner in the training of student journalists. I applaud their commitment to journalistic excellence, and I applaud how they engage student journalists to be critical thinkers because journalism matters,” said Juan Gonzales, chair of the City College of San Francisco Journalism department and founder of El Tecolote.

Bay News Rising has changed and matured since its founding in 2012, which was made possible with a grant from the Berger-Marks Foundation. But one aspect has remained the same: Bay News Rising students are required to pitch, develop, report, and write stories that reflect our union’s commitment to social justice. The program maintains a website to showcase the work of our students. The program pays students for every article, photo or video that is accepted for publication and encourages them to sell their work to commercial publications. 

Our students work closely with veteran journalists and the program hosts interactive sessions with working Bay Area journalists who speak about complex projects they have written about and offer practical ticks and career advice.