BY Monica Carrillo
Our Voice Counts
An Idaho internship program that helps Latino students break into journalism has been selected as one of 22 projects aimed at strengthening local news.
Voces Internship of Idaho — founded by Nicole Foy, reporter for ProPublica, and Ximena Bustillo, political reporter for NPR — was awarded a $500,000 grant from Press Forward, a national coalition dedicated to revitalizing local journalism. The support comes amid mounting threats to public media, including Congress’s recent approval of a $9 billion cut to public broadcasting and foreign aid, and continuous decline in local journalism.
According to The Expanding News Desert, Idaho has already seen a 21% decrease in newspapers between 2004 and 2019, leaving Idahoans unsure of what happens in their own communities. This grant award for the Voces program not only is a win for local journalism but also for Idahoans, both rural and urban, who rely on local news to stay informed.
With this funding, Voces will shift from a volunteer-run initiative to a more sustainable program by hiring paid staff, increasing intern stipends and expanding beyond the Boise area to cities with growing Hispanic populations.
Voces has placed more than 25 Latino interns in newsrooms across Idaho since it launched in 2022, offering ongoing career support and professional development opportunities. At least 13 alumni of the program now work in journalism, many providing bilingual coverage at outlets across the state. This includes KTVB, East Idaho News, 5B Gazette and Idaho News 6.
I was also a Voces intern in Fall of 2022, placed at the Moscow-Pullman Daily News, a daily newspaper in Moscow. Today, I am based next door in Washington working as a rural reporter for both The Spokesman-Review and Spokane Public Radio through a fellowship affiliated with Washington State University.
Previously, I covered Hispanic affairs at the Times-News in the Magic Valley area.
Without the Voces program launching and giving me the opportunity to gain real-life newsroom experience during my internship three years ago, I wouldn’t be where I am today.
For more information, go to vocesinternship.com or email vocesinternshipidaho@gmail.com.
