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What is the future of journalism?

A recent panel discussion at the Salt Lake City Main Library in which I participated explored this question, and a retired high school teacher in the audience expressed a realistic concern.

The woman had taught many an aspiring journalist over the years, and noted she'd never been able to assure them they were pursuing a career that promised either wealth or job security.

But nowadays, in a media environment where the business model has been splayed open and paid journalism jobs are harder than ever to come by, her question to our panel was this: Aren't you worried the best and the brightest won't ever elect to become journalists?

The answer is yes — until I consider six college interns hard at work at The Salt Lake Tribune this summer. These students view our industry's challenges as an opportunity for innovation and improvement. They are a passionate and impressive group. Their preparation and commitment speaks well for journalism's future.

Each intern earned this 10-week summer job through a competitive process, having been chosen from a large pool of candidates who applied for our own internship program or for fellowships offered through their schools or journalism organizations.

Gina Barker is a handful of credits away from earning her degree from Weber State University, where she has been editor of The Signpost student newspaper. She previously has interned at the Deseret News, as has Sara Copeland, a University of Utah senior who was last year's editor of The Daily Utah Chronicle student newspaper.

Barker will spend most of her internship on The Tribune's breaking news/crime desk, while Copeland is assigned to the copy desk.

Margaret Distler and Chase Hall are juniors at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind., and are on the staff of The DePauw student newspaper. Distler, who is from Fort Wayne, Ind., and Hall, who is from Hinsdale, Ill., are recipients of their school's Barney Kilgore Fellowship, which funded their internships.

Distler's emphasis is visual journalism. She will spend most of her internship on the photo and design desks. Hall is rotating among various desks, primarily writing feature stories.

Bruce Garlinghouse, a Sandy native, is a junior at the University of Portland in Oregon, where he is a sports writer for The Beacon student newspaper and co-creator of a campus news broadcast.

He is spending his internship on the communities and sports desks.

Carron Phillips, of Saginaw, Mich., has a master's degree in journalism from Syracuse University, where he covered sports for The Daily Orange student newspaper.

Phillips, who also interned at The Post-Standard in Syracuse, came to The Tribune's sports desk through the Sports Journalism Institute, the nation's premier sports journalism internship program.

Each of these interns is learning on the job, doing the same work our staffers do. Tribune reporters, photographers, designers and editors mentor them, and our expectations of them are high.

When they leave to return to school or their first jobs, they'll be better journalists.

"While a campus newspaper can provide students with a good taste of journalism, it is still a learning laboratory," said Samuel Autman, an associate professor at DePauw. "An internship immerses them in the culture of a real news organization, unencumbered by studying, grades and their cultivated social life on campus. They experience day-to-day life as a working journalist. In my experience, they come back on fire."

We see that fire, and benefit ourselves from their creativity and fresh eye on our world.

We do everything we can to fuel it. We like what their passion says about our future.

Lisa Carricaburu is assistant managing editor. Contact her at lisac@sltrib.com or follow her on Twitter @lcarricaburu.