The Los Angeles Times Internship Program was launched decades ago to find and nurture the next generation of journalists. Today, we will continue to use the Spring Queue, and they will gain valuable experience in the most pressing issues in the region where big stories are the norm – covering art, wildfire, sports, Hollywood and more.
We are delighted to welcome five journalists educated in Southern California who are eager to bring a wide variety of storytelling to the largest newspapers in western Washington, D.C. and bring their story ideas to life. Please meet them below.
Alia Yee Noll is a junior with a master's degree in journalism and documentary and gender studies at the University of Southern California. Throughout her college years, she worked at the Daily Trojan, serving as an editor of arts and entertainment and assistant executive editor. Last summer, she worked as an editorial intern for Ms. Magazine. When she is not writing, you will find it in exploration museums and restaurants around Southern California, collecting rubber stamps and performing crossword puzzles. She is excited to join Times as its image intern.
Amy Contreras It is Chicana from Los Angeles and the latest graduate of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where she studied comparative race studies and Spanish. For her senior project, she founded La Vitrina, Cal Poly’s first Latino campus newspaper. She also contributed to Campus Radio and is a podcast host for “Different Affairs”, covering issues of diversity, equity and inclusion. She worked as a communications intern at the Washington Office in Latin America, where she translated news releases, drafted weekly newsletters, and wrote copies for social media. She also conducted research and collaboration with the Chumash tribe in northern YakTitʸuTitʸuYakTiłhini (YTT) designed an Indigenous hike for Cal Poly, which explores the tribe’s living Indigenous traditions and knowledge that have swallowed the campus and surrounding areas and the surrounding area. Amy loves spending time at home with her dog, Cami, and cats, Coco, watching the Telenovelas and drinking homemade lattes. She is excited to join De Los in participating and exploring the La Latinx community.
Benjamin Royer It is Angeleno, who will graduate in May and receive a master's degree in professional journalism from USC, where he received a Selden Ring Respocyed Newmerism scholarship. From 2022 to 2024, he studied communication at UCLA, where he served as an assistant sports editor and staff writer for The Daily Bruin. He has written a freelance journalist for Times since July, covering high school sports, Los Angeles Sparks, UCLA gymnastics and UC women’s basketball. His narration also appears in the New York Times and UCLA blueprints, covering campus protests, medicine and sports media. Benjamin is passionate about sports investigative journalism and can’t wait to join Times, his hometown newspaper and the readings he grew up with.
Lupe Llerenas, A native of the San Fernando Valley, the latest graduate of the Annenberg School of Communications and Journalism at Cal State Northridge and USC. A bilingual journalist and proud first-generation Mexican-American, Lupe brings her cultural acumen to her report to find countless stories. Her work has been published in Iheartmedia, Mitú, Associated Press Entertainment and Los Angeles’ Secrets, among others. She is listening to her favorite hip-hop and Latin music artists while she is not preparing for an interview, chasing stories or reporting on events on social media. She is happy to be a content creator with De Los. Stay in touch with Lupe on all social media platforms: @lupellerenas.
Anthony SolorzanoBorn and raised in Pomona, I like to tell stories in any format. Over the years, he has contributed to the publications of Cal Poly Pomona's Poly Post, San Antonio Community College's SAC Media, La Taco, Pomonan and various Southern California News Corp. In his spare time, he wrote two newsletters: “Through the Grove,” exploring the culture and politics of his hometown. and “pseudo-pop”, highlighting social commentary through the lens of film and television shows. As an intern, joining the times is Anthony's dream.
