Winter Internships Put JMSC Students on the Front Lines

This year’s Master of Journalism students have landed winter internships at many of Asia’s leading media news organizations. The JMSC prides itself on offering students internships in media companies during the course of their studies, giving them the chance to learn through experience, and 37 students are currently immersing themselves in the real world of print, online, and television journalism.

News outlets that have taken JMSC students this winter include such prominent organizations as Agence-France Press (AFP), Bloomberg Business Week Chinese, CNN.com, Malaysiakini, Radio Television Hong Kong, The South China Morning Post and Southern Metropolis Weekly. Students are also interning at the Asian Review of Books, Buddhist Door, Business Traveler APAC, China Outlook, City Magazine, CNN Travel, Crave Magazine, Economic Observer, Harbour Times, Malaysiakini TV, Myitmakha News Agency, Nepalnews.com, Quartz, Southern Weekly, Southern People’s Weekly, and Yazhou Zhoukan.

Carol Cheung, from Hong Kong, is an intern reporter at the South China Morning Post, assigned to cover local stories. On her second day on the job she had already contributed to a major story on the local transit system’s power failure, which stranded thousands – and gave her a first-hand look at how news organizations handle such stories.  “I hope to learn more about the operation of a news outlet and gain more hands-on experience as a reporter,” she said.

Grigory Kravtsov, from Russia, is interning at CNN.com’s Asia-Pacific hub in Hong Kong, managing its website between 9am and 5pm. “This involves me posting new articles, deciding on placement, and creating headlines,” said Kravtsov. “So far, it’s been an extremely rewarding process. They give me the freedom to do many things, including pitching stories, writing articles, and going into the field with an experienced reporter.” He said his aim is to keep polishing his reporting skills and to get to know more professionals in the industry.

Nomi Wong, one of the JMSC’s mainland Chinese students, is interning in Myanmar at Myitmahka, the country’s first independent media outlet. “The office here is actually the founder’s home, where she trains young Burmese students every morning,” said Wong. “I’ll be doing video, print, and online reporting, rotating every week with other interns.” Wong said she hopes to raise the level of her journalism, especially videos, as she thinks Myanmar is full of good stories as the country modernizes.

Chahana Sigdel, from Nepal, is working at Malaysiakini TV, an Internet-based television station in Kuala Lumpur, writing and editing scripts, doing voice overs, and pitching story ideas. “This internship will make me more confident about working, particularly in multimedia and broadcast journalism,” she said. “All the interns are expected to produce a 3-5 minute feature story by the end of the internship. It’s very engaging.”

Kevin McSpadden, an American, is interning in Hong Kong at China Outlook, a new monthly online subscription magazine that’s producing content focused on China’s future. “I’m now working on a feature story about Chinese immigration related to food safety concerns. I’ll also be managing the website, helping with marketing, and doing first rounds of copyediting,” McSpadden said. “I should be able to contribute a decent amount of content, and hopefully by the end, I can offer prospective employers the marketing skills I learn.”

Monory Sarom, from Cambodia, hopes to build up her portfolio through her work at Nepalnews.com. “I’ll do at least one feature story along with a short video or a photo slideshow, as well as photos for hard news stories for their website,” said Sarom. “I hope to learn about how the newsroom works in real practice, working with the online digital team and the hard news reporting team.”