Krissah Thompson, managing editor of diversity and inclusion I was an intern in 2001, which would prove to be a fateful year in Washington. The economy was slumping and our intern class was nervous. The Post, like much of the industry, was in the middle of a hiring pause. I had applied to intern on the Financial desk and got busy writing about small businesses, personal finance, company quarterly reports and later helping on the banking beat. As interns, we were very busy filling in for staffers on vacation.
The program flew by, and before we knew it the summer was over. I had received and accepted a fellowship to receive my master’s degree at the University of Maryland. I did not expect to be offered a full-time role at The Post. After all, there was hiring pause! When I was invited to extend my internship, I was glad to continue writing for the Business section while studying and then to return to The Post as a staff writer. I was in the newsroom in the days following the Sept. 11 attacks and when anthrax powder began mysteriously appearing in letters across town and when tornadoes tore through an area nearby. I contributed to many big stories and watched in awe as the newsroom came together to produce impactful journalism.
I worked several more year on the Business staff and later covered voters during a presidential campaign, traveling the country to talk to Americans about candidates, politics and policy. For years, I also wrote about the East Wing of the White House and interviewed two first ladies. I joined our Style staff and covered race, culture and various other topics before becoming an editor. In 2020, I was named a managing editor and will always find welcoming a new class of summer interns thrilling.
Leonard Downie Jr., former executive editor I was an intern in 1964, the second year of The Washington Post summer internship program. Another intern that year was Bob Kaiser, who was back for his second summer. We were both on the city staff and found ourselves competing to get the most stories on the front page, which was easier then, with an eight-column front page and a much smaller reporting staff. We wound up tied at the end of the summer.
We were offered, and accepted, full-time jobs at The Post, the first of dozens of summer interns who have stayed at or returned to The Post newsroom during their careers. As a native Ohioan and graduate of a public university, Ohio State, I would have had no chance, without that internship, of being hired out of college into what was then a mostly Ivy League-filled Post newsroom.
I worked for many years as a local investigative reporter before becoming an editor on the city desk. I was deputy metro editor during the Watergate coverage, which I helped edit. I later became assistant managing editor for metro news, London correspondent, national news editor and managing editor before succeeding Ben Bradlee as executive editor in 1991. For the next seven years, Bob Kaiser, my summer intern rival, was managing editor. As executive editor for 17 years, I valued the summer internship program more than ever as a source of exceptional talent for our news staff.
Recent intern classes We are delighted to welcome The Washington Post intern class for 2022. This group — the largest summer class ever — includes 33 outstanding students from across the country. It also includes The Post’s inaugural Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting intern, Samantha Latson. The interns come from 19 colleges and universities and represent disciplines including reporting, video, audio, photography, design, graphics, editing and audience. They are immediately part of The Washington Post family and The Post’s future.