JMSC grad students placed in more than 50 winter internships across Asia

More than 50 Master of Journalism students will be putting their learning to the test after securing internships at news organisations across Asia over the winter break.

The JMSC has placed the students in print, digital and broadcast newsrooms in Hong Kong, mainland China, Myanmar, Nepal, Mongolia and Indonesia.  They include CNN.com, CNN Travel, Thompson Reuters, Quartz, RTHK and the AFP in Hong Kong; Southern Metropolis China and Bloomberg Business Week in China; the Nepal Times and Himalayan Times in Nepal; The Indonesia Channel in Indonesia, Myit Makha in Myanmar and Mongol TV in Mongolia. One student will also be pursuing freelance reporting opportunities in Cambodia.

The students spend several weeks with the news organisations and will pitch story ideas, gather information and either write or present news stories.

William Chang, the JMSC’s internship coordinator, said the internships are an integral part of the Master of Journalism programme and are a great opportunity for the students to apply the lessons they learn in the classroom to a real newsroom environment.

“Working in a newsroom is very different from an academic setting,” said Chang. “The students will have to deal with tight deadlines and sourcing and conducting interviews. They will need to be accurate and concise under time pressure and they will also need to deal with the many varied personalities you can come across in these situations.”

“For the people that haven’t had an internship, working in a newsroom can be intimidating, but the students have to overcome that and find ways to really participate in the news gathering process.”

Chang said that although it can be difficult to find the “perfect internship,” the experiences open new horizons for the students, and can often lead to a job after graduation.

“It’s terrific that the JMSC has built up such an extensive network of friends, alumni and business contacts, so that whatever a student is interested in, there are opportunities that fit in with most interests,” he said.