Idaho Capital Sun to sponsor Voces intern during 2023 legislative session

The Idaho Capital Sun and its parent nonprofit, States Newsroom, has worked in partnership with the Voces Internship of Idaho to pay $6,000 to host intern Agustin Martinez during the 2023 legislative session.

Martinez will help the Capital Sun expand its coverage of the Idaho Legislature and state politics beginning with the Jan. 6 inauguration of statewide constitutional officers, including the official start to Gov. Brad Little’s second term. The 2023 legislative session begins Jan. 9 with Little’s State of the State address.

Martinez, a Boise State University graduate, is one of three Latino journalism interns to be placed in Idaho newsrooms through the organization’s spring 2023 program. Samantha Martinez, of Boise State University, will be placed with Idaho Public Television, and Mariela Esquivel-Rodriguez, a Northwest Nazarene University student, will be placed with BoiseDev.

The interns were selected from a pool of qualified applicants from across Idaho, according to a press release from Voces Internship of Idaho. The Voces advisory council matched interns with newsrooms based on a wide variety of factors, including their journalism interests, newsroom preferences and skill level, according to the release.

“Voces is an equity-driven internship program to encourage Latino Idahoans to pursue a career in journalism and news by providing previously non-existent paid internships in pursuit of more balanced representation in newsrooms,” the press release said.

Nicole Foy and Ximena Bustillo, two journalists who got their start in Idaho, launched Voces Internship of Idaho in April 2022 in partnership with the Idaho Press Club, Boise nonprofit Surel’s Place and local Latino leaders, according to the release. The Idaho Capital Sun was selected to host intern Mia Maldonado, who has since taken a reporting job at the Idaho Statesman, during the summer of 2022.

“Representation in newsrooms is crucial for accurate reporting,” said Rebecca De León, a Voces advisory council member and co-founder of the podcast and radio show The Latino Card. “Although Idaho has come a long way in just 10 years, we are still woefully underrepresented. Voces has done great work to address that gap and speed up our journey toward equitable newsrooms, and I’m proud of that.” 

The Voces Internship of Idaho is fiscally sponsored by Surel’s Place, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, and as such, all donations to Voces are tax-deductible. To donate, go to vocesinternship.com. To support the Idaho Capital Sun, also a nonprofit, go to idahocapitalsun.com/donate/.

Correction: This article has been corrected to note that Samantha Martinez will be an intern for Idaho Public Television.