The Economist has just advertised this year’s internships funded by the Marjorie Deane Financial Journalism Foundation:

We invite promising journalists and would-be journalists to apply for the 2022 internships, which are supported by the Marjorie Deane Foundation. Successful candidates will spend three months with The Economist in London writing about finance and economics. Applicants are asked to send a covering letter and an original article of no more than 500 words suitable for publication in the Finance & economics section. Applications should be sent to deaneintern@economist.com by July 17th.

Testimonials from previous interns:

Maria Wilczek (The Economist, 2018)

“I joined the Economist as Marjorie Deane intern in late 2018. Over the past three months I worked with my anonymous heroes and wrote over a dozen print pieces for a number of sections, including Finance, Business, Europe, Britain, and the Americas. I am immensely grateful to the Marjorie Deane Foundation for making this possible.”

Alice Fulwood (The Economist, 2018)

“I was a Marjorie Deane intern at The Economist in early 2018. I am delighted to be back from late November as a full-time business correspondent. I am forever grateful to the Marjorie Deane foundation for giving me the opportunity to have this experience.”

Colby Smith (The Economist, 2018)

“The Marjorie Deane Foundation’s internship programme offers an unparalleled experience for young financial journalists looking to hone their reporting and writing skills. It was a pleasure collaborating with a number of journalists and editors across a broad spectrum of subject areas, from emerging markets to employment law. There is simply no better way to get your start in journalism.”

Eric Monkman (The Economist, 2017)

“The original Bagehot once admonished us not to “let in daylight upon magic.” He was referring to the monarchy, but his words could apply to anything impressive and mysterious. I have long been impressed by The Economist’s team of anonymous journalists and editors. There was a mysterious quality to how they consistently produced an interesting and informative weekly summary of the world’s events. Indeed, I suspect The Economist achieves this effect in part through its lack of bylines and its consistent “voice”.

As a curious reader, I decided to defy Bagehot and find out how The Economist does it. (After all, he also said “The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do”). Thinking it would be fun to work for a newspaper that I take so much pleasure in reading, I applied for the Marjorie Deane internship, not expecting that I would get it. And I didn’t. I had to apply several times before even getting on the shortlist, and then once more before finally learning that all my efforts had finally paid off. I was accepted for the position, beginning in August 2017 and working until the end of October.

I can say that, in this case, “letting in daylight” did not lead to disappointment. I was impressed by the level of thought and research that went into the production of articles. It was a joy to attend and take part in the regular discussions about what positions The Economist should take and what should be included in the paper were a joy to attend. Best of all was the friendliness and warmth I received from my colleagues. They helped me develop as a writer and remain my good friends.

I would like to thank Marjorie Deane and her namesake foundation for giving the opportunity to work at The Economist.”

James Yan (The Economist, 2016)

“I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the Marjorie Deane Financial Journalism Foundation for giving me my start in journalism. As a young trainee in the New York bureau of The Economist, I wrote about topics as diverse as long-dated government debt and Donald Trump’s border wall. I interviewed the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, attended press conferences in Manhattan and made reporting trips to rural Virginia.

The Marjorie Deane programme equipped me with the requisite nous, creativity and confidence to thrive in my subsequent role as The Economist’s staff correspondent in Hong Kong and Beijing (2018-2021). While in China, I was privileged to write two dozen lead articles on Chinese politics and business for our flagship weekly print edition. I am now an MBA candidate at Stanford Graduate School of Business. I will always look back fondly on my time at The Economist.”

Elizabeth Winkler (The Economist, 2016)

“The internship was an amazing learning experience for me, a crash course in financial journalism, as I had previously only written on politics, books, and culture. I wrote about 15 articles across the paper during my stint, covering subjects from Breitbart’s business model to China’s changing credit culture to supply-chain finance to gender-budgeting. I also did a few pieces for other sections (United States, Europe and Books).”

Yuan Yang (The Economist, 2015)

“I got my first opportunity to work as a journalist through the Marjorie Deane Foundation’s sponsorship, without which I wouldn’t have been able to afford to live in London and work as an intern for The Economist. It’s an invaluable opportunity for early-career journalists, and through it I met a wonderful community of journalists who I still run into around the world, now that I’m based in Beijing with the Financial Times. I would definitely recommend applying, even if you don’t have a “traditional” journalism background. I was an economist by training and this proved a great background for writing up columns about development economics!”

Callum Williams (The Economist, 2013)

“My first journalism experience was at the business desk of the Guardian. After spending some time in America, I was awarded an internship at The Economist during my Master’s course in economic and social history at Oxford University. I am incredibly grateful to the foundation for offering me this fantastic opportunity.”