The News & Observer announces its 2024 class of summer interns

The News & Observer is proud to welcome our 2024 summer interns and fellow.

The journalists will work in departments across the newsroom, including on our metro, politics, business, sports, visuals and audience teams. They’ll work alongside our staff covering everything from breaking news and the state legislature to Triangle happenings.

They bring experiences from college and regional publications and have been leaders at their schools’ news outlets.

Jayla Webb returns to The N&O as part of the McClatchy HBCU Internship program, which provides HBCU students with a full-time, paid internship every summer of their college career, as well as a job upon graduation. The program, established in 2022, started with eight students from seven HBCUs.

The N&O is continuing its ongoing relationship with the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Freya Gulamali, a student at Duke University, will work as an AAAS Mass Media Fellow.

All interns will write for The News & Observer and The Herald-Sun and will receive training and coaching from journalists with The N&O and McClatchy.

Look for their bylines this summer.

Meet this year’s class.

Heather Diehl (Visuals): Diehl is a rising senior at UNC-Chapel Hill majoring in media and journalism with minors in health and society and studio art. She has worked as a photographer for The Daily Tar Heel and The Durham Voice and has done freelance work for The Baltimore Banner in her hometown. She recently placed fifth in the Hearst Awards photojournalism contest.

Freya Gulamali (AAAS/Science): Freya is a rising senior at Duke University studying computer science and health policy. Her research interests lie at the intersection of health policy and AI, and she has explored this as a data science researcher at the Duke Institute for Health Innovation and as a member of the Duke-Margolis Institute’s scholars program. She is writing research stories for Health AI Partnership, to help health system leaders, researchers and clinicians stay updated on health AI. She is working at the N&O as an AAAS Mass Media Science and Engineering Fellow this summer.

Gabriella Hartlaub (Audience): Hartlaub is a rising junior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she is studying journalism, public policy and gender and women’s studies. Most recently she has served as the Arts Editor for The Daily Cardinal at UW-Madison, where she has covered the local music scene, movie reviews and current events. She also has covered presidential visits and politics. She has worked on multiple media platforms, such as TikTok and Instagram, while also hosting podcasts related to local government, women’s issues and the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Emmy Martin (Projects): Martin is a rising senior at UNC-Chapel Hill, where she is majoring in journalism and minoring in information science and is an Eve Carson Scholar. This year, Martin served as the editor-in-chief of The Daily Tar Heel, UNC’s independent student newspaper. Last summer, Martin worked on the multiplatform editing desk at The Dallas Morning News, where she copy-edited articles and designed news pages for the daily newspaper. Previously, she was the editor of The Daily Tar Heel’s City & State Desk, covering the 2022 midterm elections and local politics. She was invited to the White House for her work at the helm of The Daily Tar Heel following the fatal campus shooting in August 2023 and is the recipient of the Columbia Scholastic Press Association’s Edmund J. Sullivan Award for pursuing innovative ways to present the truth.

Vivienne Serret (Politics): Serret is graduating from the University of Florida, where she has majored in journalism, criminology and pre-law with a focus on investigative journalism. She has worked for The Alligator, the university’s independent newspaper, as the student government reporter. She is currently editor of the Florida Political Review and reports for Fresh Take Florida. She also has freelanced for the Gainesville Sun.

Shelby Swanson (Sports): Swanson is a rising senior at UNC-Chapel Hill, where she is majoring in journalism and Hispanic literatures and cultures. She is the sports editor and ad production manager at The Daily Tar Heel. She also has freelanced for The News & Observer, The Miami Herald and the Chatham News + Record. She recently was named the 2024 Rick Bonnell Memorial Scholarship winner and placed first in feature writing in the Hearst Journalism Awards. Before her internship, she will take part in the Sports Journalism Institute.

William Tong (Metro): Tong is a rising junior studying journalism, computer science and legal studies at Northwestern University. He currently serves as city editor at The Daily Northwestern, where he also worked as copy chief. Last summer, he conducted independent research on the federal Freedom of Information Act, and he previously worked with the Student Press Law Center. He is involved with nuAZN, the Asian interest magazine at Northwestern, and the Asian American Journalists Association.

Jayla Webb (Audience): Webb is a rising senior at Benedict College, where she is majoring in mass communications with a minor in marketing. She is a layout designer and editor of the Honors Newsletter, “The Black Achievers Digest,” where she has covered topics ranging from the history and importance of HBCUs to highlighting women’s achievements. Following her internship with The N&O last summer, Webb has continued to write newsletters and develop creative content for The N&O’s social media accounts.