Alligator staff from the Spring 2020 semester pose for a photo during a Zoom meeting. The incoming Summer 2020 staff reports remotely and communicates using the video conferencing service.
Are you interested in joining one of the largest independent, student-run newspapers in the country? The Alligator is looking for writers to help move the newspaper forward.
OPEN POSITION: NEWS ASSISTANT
Click HERE to apply
Applications are due at 11:59 p.m. June 24. We recommend that you apply well before the deadline.
News assistants will be the first people who our desk editors go to when a breaking news story happens and a staff writer needs backup. These positions allow The Alligator to bring in more people willing to work and learn who may not have the same experience as a staff writer. News assistants will learn how to pitch, write and pursue their own stories. They’ll be expected to write one to three stories per week. Previous contributing writing experience is preferred but not required. Journalism majors are preferred, but all majors are encouraged to apply. Applicants must be a current UF or Santa Fe College student.
Pay: $5 for each story that appears in print. $2.50 per online-only stories and briefs.
Because of restrictions brought about by COVID-19, The Alligator is operating differently this Summer than in previous semesters. A majority of communications take place over Zoom, including weekly staff meetings on Sundays. We expect all staff members to social distance: this means that all interviews will be conducted over phone or video conference.
We have also reduced our print production from twice a week in summers to once a week. This does not mean our staff works any less than in previous Summer semesters. We expect to produce engaging online content every day, especially now that the majority of our audience will access The Alligator online.
Students will gain professional experiences on deadline in an electrifying, digitally evolving newsroom. This semester, we are working remotely to cover the UF and Gainesville community with as much vigor and ambition as always.
Alligator reporters have covered high-profile events and have made an impact on audiences. Over the course of last semester, they’ve been instrumental in providing coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic. They also reported live when a Student Government meeting was “Zoom bombed.” The Alligator’s work has been referenced in national outlets such as CNN, The New York Times and The Washington Post.
They’ve covered white supremacist Richard Spencer’s speech at UF and the Women’s March in D.C. They’ve investigated sexual violence on campus, including a story about a university professor who was not fired but allowed to resign after he had been accused of sexual assault and inappropriate relationships with multiple women. Reporters have also completed an ambitious project about the racial and socioeconomic divide in Gainesville.
Our staff has gone on to professional internships and fellowships at: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Palm Beach Post, The Oregonian, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Sun-Sentinel, the Miami Herald, the Tampa Bay Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Gainesville Sun, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, the Jacksonville Times-Union, the Orlando Sentinel, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, CNN and more. The first two New York Times fellowships at UF were given to back-to-back Alligator editor-in-chiefs.
Being part of The Alligator staff also connects students to a large and diverse distinguished alumni network. Our alumni work at many of the same national, local and regional newsrooms mentioned, study at Harvard Law School and start public relations firms.
