The Baltimore Banner is proud to announce our 2025 summer intern class.

Many of the students selected for our internship program come to us with local ties to Maryland.

Please join us in welcoming these young journalists to our newsroom.

Liana Handler

Liana Handler, a junior from the University of Florida, has pursued north central Florida sports stories for the last two years, including currently as the Independent Florida Alligator’s UF gymnastics and football beat reporter. She also had bylines in the Tampa Bay Times and WUFT News. Her favorite stories focus on the intersection of sports, culture and community. She will work as a general assignment sports reporter through a partnership with the Sport Journalism Institute

Aline Kado

Aline Kado is a graduate student at the Merrill College of Journalism. She has worked as an intern for El Tiempo Latino and as a freelance journalist for the Laurel Independent. Her reporting has primarily revolved around Latino communities in the D.C. area. She has previously worked as a copy editor and managing editor for The Eagle and as a data reporter for The Diamondback. She has also helped in the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism as a data reporter. She will work on The Banner’s news desk as a general assignment reporter through a partnership with the MDDC Press Association.

Nina Giraldo

Nina Giraldo is a recent graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, where she studied international affairs and anthropology. Originally from Sarasota, Florida, she served as editor-in-chief of the university’s student newspaper and reported for a variety of local St. Louis papers, covering everything from social justice movements to the city’s music scene. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, dancing salsa, and cooking with friends and family. She will work as a general assignment reporter on The Banner’s news desk.

Patrick McCaslin

I’m a data journalist who just graduated from the University of Miami. I studied mathematics and computer science, but wholly pursued journalism outside of school. My work has included investigations for my university’s newspaper (The Miami Hurricane), features in the Miami New Times, more features in a myriad of smaller Miami magazines, and an internship with WSVN-7’s special projects team. If I’m not writing words or code, you can find me running, climbing, watching horror movies, or reading anything with a pretty cover.

Patrick will work as a data reporter with The Banner as part of a partnership with the Dow Jones News Fund.

Alexander Taylor

Alex Taylor is a journalism student at the University of Maryland, College Park. A Baltimore native, he is the news director at his university’s radio station, WMUC-FM, and has freelanced for the South Baltimore Peninsula Post and interned at Baltimore Witness. In his free time, he loves going on long walks, preferably by the water. He will work on The Banner’s news desk as a general assignment reporter through a partnership with Merrill’s Local News Network.

Nori Leybengrub

Nori Leybengrub is a recent graduate from Barnard College in New York City, where she majored in sociology and worked as a social studies teacher at a high school in the Bronx. Pikesville-born and raised, she’s reported for The Anniston Star in Anniston, Alabama, on everything from city government accountability, to grassroots advocacy and rodeos. Nori also worked for her campus paper as a columnist, writing about a variety of student groups. Most early mornings you can find her figure skating at the Mount Pleasant Ice Arena, where she has been an active member with the Baltimore Figure Skating Club for over a decade. She will work on The Banner’s news desk as a general assignment reporter.

Florence Shen

Hello! I’m Florence, a junior at the George Washington University studying photojournalism. I’m so excited to be joining The Banner this summer as a photographer intern! Local news is my passion, having previously interned for a small newspaper in Warrenton, Virginia, and working as a photo editor for my school’s independent newspaper, the GW Hatchet, on the features beat. Long-form and underreported storytelling is my favorite form of photography, but I also love a good sports game. My experience also includes interning as a photographer for the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and an archivist for Contact Press Images. I was raised in New Jersey and am opinionated about good pizza and bagels. I’m looking forward to trying Maryland’s crab cakes.

Adora Brown

Adora Brown is the summer 2025 arts & culture intern. Adora recently graduated from Emerson College in Boston, where she studied journalism, nonprofit communications and American Sign Language. Her previous work can be found in The Boston Globe, Boston.com, and WGBH News. When she’s not reporting, Adora can be found with her nose in a book.

Toluwanimi Talabi

My name is Tolu Talabi and I am an incoming senior at the University of Maryland, College Park, where I study journalism and minor in global studies. I have written for the Capital News Service, The Baltimore Fishbowl, The Diamondback and The Black Explosion, where I’ve covered social justice, arts, and culture, and found joy in writing narrative journalism. I report with passion, bravery, compassion, and truth, which are values that will forever drive my work.

Tolu will work as a general assignment reporter on The Banner’s news desk.

Eli Pekelny

Eli Pekelny is a rising senior studying journalism at Boston University. Her interests include musical composition, sightseeing, and rollerblading. Eli, who has roots in Salisbury, is beyond excited to return to the state this summer to tell untold stories as a social media intern with the Banner.

Anna Rubenstein

Anna Rubenstein will work as an intern on the news desk at The Baltimore Banner. She is going into her senior year studying journalism and English at Boston University. Her work has been published in WBUR, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and BU’s student newspaper. She is excited to explore Baltimore this summer and for many, many conversations. She is interning through a partnership with Boston University.