MDDC Press Foundation

Michael S. Powell High School Journalist of the Year

Internship Program

Foundation Trustees

The MDDC Press Association in December 1998 created a private, tax-deductible foundation to develop and operate programs that will enhance newspaper journalism in Maryland, Delaware and the District of Columbia.

The MDDC Press Foundation is incorporated in Maryland, and has been approved by the Internal Revenue Service as an exempt organization under Section 501 © (3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

"We intend, over time, that the new MDDC Press Foundation will bring greater growth, focus and effectiveness to the journalism and free press education programs MDDC has sponsored in our region," said Foundation President Peggy Schiff. "And, of course, the Foundation will give us a vehicle for tax deductible contributions that will allow us to increase these important programs," she noted.

The Foundation sponsors an annual Michael S. Powell High School Journalist of the Year competition each spring as well as the Reese Cleghorn MDDC Internship Program for college students. In addition, the Foundation proposes to sponsor a variety of educational programs, including seminars and awards programs, provide scholarships and internships for journalism students, and undertake other programs to help newspapers better serve readers and advertisers, and to educate the public on the value of newspapers in a free society.

The Board of Directors of MDDC Press Association comprises the total membership of the Foundation. A seven-member Board of Trustees directs the Foundation.

Applications for the award are mailed to area high schools in the fall and are due in January. Applicants are asked to submit five samples of work, mounted on unlined paper, a letter of recommendation from the nominee’s advisor, an autobiography geared to the publication activities in which the nominee participated, and the nominee should write a paragraph or two on the most important aspect of scholastic journalism.

The MDDC Press Association began offering summer internships to students in the region in 1999. During that first pilot year, four students were placed at member newspapers. Since then, the program has continued to grow with 28 total students interning over the last four years. More than 20 newspapers from the MDDC region have participated in the program.

The eight-week internships have been offered to student journalists at any four-year colleges in Maryland, Delaware or the District of Columbia. In 2004 the program was opened to residents of the region who are attending a journalism school out of the state.

The association provides each intern with a stipend of $2,400 tax-free for the program. The newspapers to which they are assigned are responsible for any income tax liability the student incurs, plus normal business expenses.

Internship applications are sent to all colleges in the MDDC region early in the fall. Member newspapers are also contacted to indicate their interest in having interns the following summer. The deadline for applications is mid November, finalists are interviewed in January and decisions are made by the selection committee in March.

Jim Donahue, retired MDDC Executive Director - President
Jean Halle, The Baltimore Sun - - Vice President
Tom Schmidt, Carroll Publishing Co. - Treasurer
Carol Melamed, The Washington Post - Secretary
Karen Acton, Southern Maryland Newspapers
Jim Keat, retired, The Baltimore Sun
Tom Kunkel, Philip Merrill College of Journalism (U of MD)
John League, The Herald-Mail
Tom Linthicum, TDL Group, Inc.
John J. Oliver, Jr., The Afro-American Newspapers
Peggy Schiff, The Washington Post

Jack Murphy, MDDC Executive Director - Foundation Director