Each spring, the CN assembles the incoming class of summer interns and year-long fellows for an expenses-paid weekend-long seminar in Washington, DC. The seminar has two purposes:

  • To offer practical training so that interns and fellows are well-prepared to get to work on day one. Professional reporters, including former CN fellows, offer advice on reporting, source cultivation, newsroom etiquette, journalistic ethics, and multimedia platforms.
  • To enable interns and fellows to get to know both each other and professional reporters so that they have contacts and friends at a variety of media venues.

The 2008 class of interns and fellows gathered at the Mariott Metro Center in downtown Washington from April 4th to 6th. CN staff offered advice on research, fact-checking, reporting, editing, and more. 

Speakers included:
  • Sonny Bunch, former CN fellow at Roll Call and then-assistant editor at the Weekly Standard
  • David Freddoso, political reporter, National Review Online
  • John McComrack, CN fellow, Weekly Standard
  • Jillian Bandes, CN fellow, Roll Call
  • Kristin Deasy, CN fellow, USA Today
  • James David Dickson, CN fellow, American Spectator