Moguls and Gossip Intern

We day-drank with Willie Brown. We broke the Anna Wintour/Vogue World scoop. We were at the de Young gala when things got messy after midnight. San Francisco has secrets — and The Standard is hiring someone to help us find them.

The SF Standard is looking for an intern to split time between two of our most entertaining and important beats: The Waggle, our weekly gossip and society column, and The Moguls, our reporting on wealth and power in San Francisco. This is not a breaking-news internship. This is for the person who already knows which Pac Heights fundraiser to crash on a Tuesday, considers getting invited to a private after-party a professional accomplishment, and has strong opinions about who actually runs this city.

What you'll do

On The Waggle side: attend events, track the SF social calendar, and file sharp, dish-forward blurbs in the column's wry, insider voice. You are expected to work the room — not just observe it. Every conversation is a potential item; every introduction is a future source.

On The Moguls side: pitch story ideas, assist senior reporters with research and reporting, and write your own stories about the old money, tech money, and cultural power that shape San Francisco. Think board reshuffles, foundation dinners with agendas behind the agendas, and the philanthropist who is also a slumlord.

You might be right for this if:

• You feel genuine FOMO when you miss a notable event — and you actually go to notable events
• You understand that gossip, reported well, is a form of accountability journalism
• You are comfortable talking to powerful people and not intimidated by wealth, status, or a door person with a clipboard
• You can write with wit and economy — a good Waggle blurb is 80 words that earns a screenshot
• You're more interested in who's in the room than what's on the press release

Journalism experience is welcome but not required. A track record as a good writer — essays, a newsletter, a sharp social presence, a college column — matters more than a résumé full of wire service internships. We are not looking for an AP stringer in training.

This is an in-office position in our San Francisco office, with occasional remote work depending on the days/times of your shifts.

This internship pays $25 per hour, and may be part-time or full-time. 

To apply for this position, please submit your resume along with 3 to 5 published work samples, a cover letter and contact information for at least two references. In your cover letter, pitch two gossip story ideas you’d be interested in pursuing as an intern—no subject matter is off limits, as long as it has some connection to San Francisco. Your pitches should explain why the stories would be relevant and interesting to readers, and how you would approach them. Your cover letter should also detail when you are available to start working, and what days and times you are regularly available for work.