Metpro is a unique program started in 1984 to help beginning journalists launch careers and boost diversity in newsrooms.
The Los Angeles Times is seeking high-potential, highly motivated aspiring journalists with diverse backgrounds or life experiences. The program’s main thrust is to provide participants - recent college graduates or journalists with limited professional experience - the training and support necessary to put them on a fast track to success.
Metpro is not an internship but a formal fellowship customized to help trainees realize their goals. The paid, full-time program lasts up to two years and is included in the Los Angeles Times Guild. We accept applications from those eligible to work in the U.S. with up to three years of experience in a professional newsroom or up to five years in media settings such as weeklies and community newsrooms, websites, fellowships or freelance work.
Note: Tribune Publishing, owner of the Chicago Tribune, sold The Times in 2018. Since the split, The Times has continued Metpro. The Chicago Tribune is accepting applications for its Metpro program separately. Please see below.
Each Metpro participant can expect:
- Formal mentoring
- Frequent performance evaluations and coaching
- A thorough grounding in journalism ethics and relevant laws pertaining to libel and privacy
- An opportunity to cover communities, including cops, courts and city councils
- A thorough understanding of public records and research tools
- An opportunity to prepare stories for the web and build digital skills
If you are curious, creative and motivated, if you want to watch history as it unfolds and have a strong desire to be a part of a newsroom, then come join the Metpro graduates who have found success.
How to Apply
Chicago Tribune: Those interested in Chicago should email a cover letter, resume, references and clips (as PDFs, not links, if possible) to Tracy Van Moorlehem at . Questions about the Chicago program? E-mail Van Moorlehem directly.
Los Angeles Times: Applicants will be required to fill out an online form, complete a writing test and get evaluations from three references. The Times welcomes applications from aspiring reporters, multiplatform copy editors, audience engagement editors, page designers, visual journalists, podcast producers and interactive graphics/data journalists.
(click to access, then download)
(send link directly to your references or click link to access the form, which can be downloaded in a format of your choice by clicking “File” in the upper left and then “Download as”)
Click on the box below to go to our online application site
Contact Us
Los Angeles Times |
Tracy Boucher
Director of News Development
Steve Padilla
Metpro Director
Metpro Site Administration
Photo compilation: Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Associated Press