Two U of A Journalism Students Receive National Internships

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Mary Hennigan, left, and Sarah Komar.

The Dow Jones News Fund has chosen two U of A School of Journalism and Strategic Media students for prestigious reporting internships.

Mary Hennigan will join the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting, and Sarah Komar will spend the summer working for The Arizona Republic.

The internships are through the Dow Jones News Fund, which provides classes in business and data reporting, digital media and editing, followed by paid internships. Hennigan and Komar will also receive $1,500 scholarships.

"This is a nationally competitive intern program that provides some of the best training for young journalists that I've ever seen," said Rob Wells, associate professor of journalism and a former Dow Jones and Wall Street Journal editor.

Students competed for 86 spots in this year's class through rigorous testing and interviews. Of the 14 colleges in the Southeastern Conference, only five schools had students in the group recently announced by the fund: one each from LSU and the University of Missouri; two each from the U of A and University of South Carolina; and three from two campuses of Texas A&M.

"2020 was a lost year for so many students seeking critical training opportunities in the professional world. The internship situation is dramatically better, and our students were well-positioned thanks to intensive programs we have in the School of Journalism and Strategic Media," said Gina Shelton, who oversees the school's internship program.

Hennigan, of Cassville, Missouri, is assistant editor of Arkansascovid.com, an independent news source operated by the U of A School of Journalism and Strategic Media to provide detailed pandemic data, analysis and news.

Komar, of Kansas City, Missouri, has been news editor of the student newspaper, The Arkansas Traveler, covering multiple beats and recruiting and training reporters. She will be editor-in-chief next year.

"Everyone in the school is so supportive,'' said Komar, a rising senior. "They are very invested in making sure we get good internships and get our work published."

Hennigan receives her bachelor's degree in May and has decided to continue her journalism training in the graduate school. She said, "The really special thing about the journalism school is you get to know your professors on a personal level.''

The Dow Jones News Fund, based in Princeton, New Jersey, said this year's internship class is the most diverse and inclusive in the Fund's 60 years, with 62 percent students of color, 75 percent women, 5 percent nonbinary/gender-nonconforming and several international and first-generation college students. 

The Fund is the charitable arm of Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones Newswires, MarketWatch and Barron's. For more information visit dowjonesnewsfund.org.