JMSC Students Secure Winter Internships Across Asia

JMSC Master of Journalism student, Rebecca Valli, is off to Cambodia for Christmas this year. Not on holiday – for an internship at the Phnom Penh Post.

“I am sure it will be a blast. I am extremely excited to work in a daily newspaper. As a relatively small operation, the Phnom Penh Post should be a good place to contribute with my own reporting and my own stories. What I hope to get out of it is a more practical, day to day, journalistic experience. I am confident I will put last semester’s teachings, especially reporting and multi-media skills, into good use in Phnom Penh.”

Rebecca is one of more than 40 MJ students about to set off for China, India, Indonesia, Cambodia, Tokyo and Malaysia. Students are also taking up places here in Hong Kong at SCMP.com, Agence France Press, Central China Television and CNN. The internships last between four and six weeks.

Jim Laurie, Director of the Broadcasting Programme, has been securing the placements.

“We hope that students will get real work experiences and an appreciation of the highly competitive nature of the journalism industry.”

Jonathan Stray and Phillippa Stewart are two rookie reporters going to work at the Jakarta Globe. Aimed at entertaining and informing the residents of Jakarta and Indonesia, this year-old paper provides a fantastic opportunity to see their stories in print.

Laurie is delighted that students will be covering stories all over Asia.

“We are excited by the geographical spread of the internships – particularly our new internships in Jakarta and Shanghai.  We were especially pleased that for the first time the Shanghai Media Group is able to utilise three of our students.”

Shanghai Television station, ICS, part of the Shanghai Media Group, is expanding its English language service and taking three JMSC students: Andrew Lau, Gao Yubing and Richard Macauley. These three budding broadcasters are likely to get on screen as they had to send in two minute promos each.

Richard Macauley is looking forward to reporting in China.

“I don’t see myself as a news anchor but I’m pretty interested in reporting news.”

Gao Yubing hopes to get on air but says the exposure to the world of work is more important at this stage.

“Shanghai Media Group is at the forefront of media restructuring in China to split hard news from arts, culture and infotainment programmes. I very much look forward to embracing the opportunity to be part of the new initiative.”

Other students are off to Beijing to work at Al Jazeera, Voice of America and ABC News.

Monami Yui has landed one of the most exciting new placements: working for Japanese public service broadcaster NHK World in Tokyo.

“I’ve never worked in a media company before, so I’ll try to experience as much as I can. I took video production and TV news writing this semester; I hope to use what I learnt from those courses in a real news-making environment.”

Over the years, Associate Professor Doreen Weisenhaus has placed hundreds of interns for the JMSC.

“Internships are invaluable opportunities for students to put into practice what they have learned in class, to sample different work environments and to enhance future employment prospects. They can also be terrific fun and adventure, whether it’s in Phnom Penh, Beijing, Jakarta, Manila or Taipei,” she said.  — Angharad Law