The L.A. Times welcomes its Class of 2026 spring interns

The following announcement is sent on behalf of Assistant Managing Editor for Culture and Talent Angel Jennings and Deputy Editor for Culture and Talent Anh Do:

A new season heralds a new team, as the Los Angeles Times continues its commitment to training young journalists who will fill our pages with rich, nuanced storytelling.

The six spring interns will cover issues and news that shape our region and that help to spark conversations and change. They will work side by side with veteran journalists as they delve into the nuts and bolts of reporting and learn how to elevate their craft. Please meet them below.

Karen Mariana Cardenas Ceballos is excited to work as an intern at De Los, the Los Angeles Times vertical for all things Latinidad, where she will bring a deep commitment to community representation. Guided by her passion for culture, art and history, she believes every voice carries a story worth telling. Previously, she interned at LAist, covering culture, and at Pasadena City College, where she was the sideline reporter for football championship games and hosted the campus radio station’s first Spanish-language podcast. Ceballos earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the Universidad Tecnológica de Manzanillo in Mexico and a broadcast certification from PCC. Raised between the coast and a ranch in Manzanillo, she enjoys spending time at the sea, which has long been a part of her life.

Nicole Macias Garibay is a transborder storyteller and bilingual journalist from the U.S.-Mexico border. She is a recent graduate of Arizona State University in her home state, where she studied journalism. Garibay grew up crossing the border every day to attend school in the United States — an experience that fuels her drive to center her work on migration, as well as Latino culture and community. She reported for CALÓ News, wrote for La Voz and the Arizona Republic, interned at Telemundo Arizona and launched VOCES, a bilingual magazine dedicated to telling stories para la comunidad, por la comunidad. The first time she drove into L.A., Garibay told her parents she would work at The Times one day. She’s excited to begin that chapter as a De Los intern.

Samantha Lee is a junior journalism major at USC with minors in economics and cinematic arts. She has spent the last two years getting to know Los Angeles through reporting, which she believes is the best way to understand a new city. Last summer, Lee was back home reporting for the Straits Times in Singapore, where she was born, and this summer she’ll be reporting from Tokyo. On campus, she serves as editor in chief of SPEC Magazine, but whenever she gets the chance, she enjoys traveling and trying diverse food from around the world. Lee loves exploring all the different ways stories can be told, by experimenting with visual mediums from street photography to photojournalism to documentaries. She is thrilled to be joining Image magazine this spring.

Cierra Morgan, originally from Queens, N.Y., is a recent graduate of USC where she earned a dual degree in journalism and health sciences. During her time at USC, she reported for Annenberg Media. Additionally, she covered politics and healthcare with a focus on childhood cancer advocacy, and her work was published in the Washington Times and Children’s Cancer Cause. Morgan is passionate about telling stories that matter and bringing attention to underserved communities. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, spending time with family and friends, and diving into a good thriller. She is currently on a mission to read every Freida McFadden book this year. She is excited to join The Times’ Fast Break desk, where she looks forward to learning and growing as a journalist.

Angela Osorio is a multimedia journalist and a third-year journalism student at Cal State Long Beach. She has won awards for her coverage of campus government and crime, as well as entertainment stories and print design. She worked as a reporting intern at the Signal Tribune and as a social media intern at BASIC magazine, along with serving as chief copy editor at the Long Beach Current, her campus newspaper. Osorio is passionate about the role of local journalism in serving underrepresented communities, and aims to document the diverse culinary voices of Los Angeles as an intern in Food, as well as continue her work reporting on local policy, environmental justice, community solutions and more.

Katie Simons is a senior journalism major at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and an education and society minor. After discovering her love of arts journalism through her high school newspaper in Westport, Conn., she headed west to gain more experience with entertainment coverage. She has worked with USC Annenberg Media for three years as a managing editor and an editor of the arts, culture and entertainment desk. Simons also spent her summer interning with the E! News Digital Video and Bookings team under NBCU. When she’s not reporting, you can find her playing Bananagrams, doing crosswords and trying L.A.’s different beaches. Simons is thrilled to join the Entertainment and Arts team.