Your connection to collegiate news | Oct. 8, 2025

By Cassie Cornwell
Senior Journalism major, USC
I spent this summer interning at the Post and Courier of Columbia. I wrote many different types of stories and was truly able to get experience in a lot of different areas. I did things like writing about an endangered bird returning to Lexington County as well as stories about the oldest church congregation in Columbia and so much more.
I learned so much with my time at the Post and Courier this summer. I greatly appreciated how I was treated by my editors and the other reporters. They truly brought me in a treated me just like they did everyone else. Everyone was so willing to collaborate with me and help out if I needed it. One of my first stories was a collaboration with one of the State House reporters Anna Wilder and she was great to work with and was so helpful.
I am so grateful for all the connections I was able to make, and I feel like I was able to learn so much in just a few 

weeks I loved the way that my editors trusted that I could do what they asked me to do. They trusted that if I needed help, I would ask, and they didn’t treat me like I didn’t know what I was doing.
I wrote over 30 stories during my eight weeks and I’m proud of all that I was able to get published. I loved getting to met people and tell their stories, like a little girl named Zayne and a South Carolina journalist and author. I am grateful for all that I was able to do and that I was able to get the chance to improve my writing and reporting skills.

How to apply
Eight-week internships valued at $4,480 are open to student journalists who attend a four-year college in South Carolina or reside in South Carolina and attend a four-year college elsewhere. Rising juniors and seniors are eligible to apply by Dec. 2.

The 2025 Collegiate Contest entry platform is live and accepting entries through Friday, Dec. 5.
Each member editor and adviser should have received an email with log-in credentials for the site. Reporters, photographers, designers and other staff members should get the login from their editor.
The contest period is for work published between Dec. 1, 2024 – Nov. 30, 2025.
Only collegiate members that have paid dues for the 2025-2026 academic year are eligible to enter!
Please reach out if you have questions about the rules or need help using the digital entry platform.

The South Carolina Press Association is currently hiring four college students for part-time internships starting Dec. 1 and ending March 27, with flexibility and time off around exams, holidays and Spring Break.
Interns will work in Dec./Jan. getting News Contest entries ready for judging. In Feb./March, interns will help build our Annual Meeting digital awards presentations and printed winner displays.
This is an in-office position so applicants need to be located in Columbia for most of December, as well as Spring semester.
You must have reliable transportation to our office (located on Bush River Rd., about a 10-minute drive from USC's campus).
Interns will work a flexible 15-20/hour work week. Pay is $12 an hour. This position may also qualify for college internship credit.
Candidates should have a high attention to detail. Some knowledge of Photoshop, InDesign and Acrobat is a plus but we can also train you.
This is an excellent opportunity for journalism and vis com students, as well anyone working in student media. 
Interested? Email Jen Madden no later than Oct. 31. Please include resume and availability (days/hours, holiday travel, etc.). We'll be reviewing resumes as they come in, so you're encouraged to apply as soon as possible.

By: Will Maddux, The Daily Gamecock, USC | 
Read here!

By Kendall Lampman, The Tiger, Clemson University | Read here!

By Maurion Jamison, The Johnsonian, Winthrop University | Read here!

By Andrew Copp, The Vision, North Greenville | Read here!

By Lilian Galloway, Old Gold & Black, Wofford College |  Read here!

The Daily Gamecock of USC posting a funny comic called "The Reading."

USC J-School students Colin Elam, Maya Ambuehl, McKenzie Bargeron and Cassie Cornwell gained valuable watchdog report training from a SC Investigates event at SCPA offices.

The Chanticleer at Coastal Carolina University putting a fun twist on their Horo-roast. Read here!

The Collegian of Bob Jones University using Instagram reels to tell the story of 3 juniors, 3 roommates and 3 different majors. Watch it here!

A quick flick reading the newest edition of The Johnsonian at Winthrop University.

USC Carolina News & Reporter faces of senior semester fall 2026!

The Bluestocking at Presbyterian College promoting their website in a fun way!

If you want any of your clips on social featured, send them to us on Instagram or Facebook!

Thanks to funding from the SCPA Foundation, a self-paced online journalism and ad sales training course is currently available to all SCPA members at no charge. Members who complete the entire course will receive a Certificate of Completion. If you have a staffer who could benefit from this training, please sign up!