Every summer, journalism students leave the JMSC with reporting and technical skills that equip them to work in a variety of old and new media. For some, testing their newfound skills in the tough, traditional newspaper environment still holds the greatest allure, and one such news outlet, the Phnom Penh Post, has become a popular proving ground for JMSC graduates and current students alike.

Justin Heifetz (MJ ’11), Paola Barisani (MJ ’12) and Anne Renzenbrink (MJ ’12) all started working at Cambodia’s main English-language daily soon after graduation. Heifetz joined the Post as a web editor in charge of crucial changes at the paper, including redesigning the site to allow breaking news in real time, and adding a social media presence. He moved on to a similar role at the Post’s sister publication, The Myanmar Times, before joining Mizzima in Yangon.

Barisani had interned for the paper over her winter break and went back after graduation to take over from Heifitz, serving as the web editor through the spring of 2013. The role was a challenge for Barisani, who is from Italy and who, as a non-native English speaker, found the pace of online editing daunting. But she improved quickly and lauds the paper for trusting her with the role. “The Phnom Penh Post gives young reporters a chance to prove themselves in a tough environment. There are always numerous opportunities,” she said.

Paola Barisani, former web editor for the Post and MJ ’12.

Renzenbrink also interned for the paper before becoming a business reporter last fall and finding herself covering an area of the world where good business stories abound. “There are a bunch of interesting developments in the business sector, not just in Cambodia, but also regionally across South East Asia,” Renzenbrink said. Her articles, including a recent story describing China’s influence on Cambodia’s economy, are archived here.

Alan Parkhouse, an Australian, is the Post’s editor-in-chief. He has worked extensively in Asia Pacific and the UK as a sub-editor for such papers as The Bangkok Post, The Nation, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Daily Telegraph and The Telegraph, and he has a theory about the allure of his current paper for students and graduates: “You gain a hell of a lot of experience – experience that they wouldn’t gain elsewhere – simply by the nature of the stories we get to report on in Cambodia. News here is much more cutting-edge and exciting because of the issues people face in Cambodia,” he said.

Those issues include a country that is still recovering from decades of civil war and genocide. Many of the paper’s stories involve land rights and human rights abuses. The U.N.-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal is in the process of trying the surviving leaders of the Cambodian communist party, which carried out the genocide – one of the biggest human rights court cases in history. Parkhouse said the paper rotates journalists, including interns and new recruits, to cover the proceedings.

The paper has two floors of office space in a small industrial estate minutes from the centre of Phnom Penh, and a printing press on the outskirts of town.  It employs about 200 people, many of whom speak Khmer and work in tandem with English-speaking reporters. The Post has a regular daily print readership of over 12,000, a number Parkhouse said is dwarfed by an online readership that he estimated as much as 100 times higher, largely due to the exodus of Cambodians who fled the Khmer Rouge regime and are now living outside of the country.

The Post has become something of a regional standout, winning seven international and domestic awards in 2012 alone, including prizes from the Society of Publishers in Asia and the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers. The paper’s only English-language competition is a small, pamphlet-like publication called the Cambodia Daily.

Anne Renzenbrink, business reporter for the Post and MJ ’12.

According to Parkhouse, the Cambodian press enjoys a level of freedom that is unusual in the region. “We don’t have any censorship here,” he said. “Occasionally, we get angry letters and phone calls from the government over stories we’ve run, but we’ve never been sued….There are no subjects that we cannot write about.”

The Post has been a popular internship destination for years. It’s especially appealing to students who want the opportunity to report and write multiple stories independently.

Current MJ Soo Jin Kim, who interned with the Post over the 2013 winter break, found a wide range of roles available to her at the paper. “The internship experience at Phnom Penh Post is very hands-on and exciting,” she said, “I worked for three desks: national, lifestyle, and business. I’ve done a wide range of work, from sub-editing, to pulling news wires, to editing the layout, to writing articles.”

Fellow MJ and 2013 winter intern Stephanie Ip said that the editors were “very open to your ideas and willing to let you write articles for them” – something she said she didn’t think a lot of other papers would to offer to novice journalists. Ip’s articles are archived here.

Parkhouse said interns are treated no differently than the rest of the reporting staff. They are given a few office-based days to get to know how things work, and are then sent right out on stories. “We coach them, give them contacts, and make sure they are provided with support. Editors make sure they are given all the help that they can. But they are encouraged to be, as quickly as they can, just another member of staff,” he said.

Heifetz thinks skilled graduates can really make a difference at papers like the Phnom Penh Post. The paper needs the up-to-date skills and experience that current JMSC graduates bring, he said, including online and data journalism skills. But, he warned: “If you want to be hand held, this isn’t the place for you.”

A selection of media organizations that took JMSC interns this winter.

Graduate students at the Journalism and Media Studies Centre recently returned from winter internships all over the world with a lot of experience and quite a few published articles under their belts.

JMSC students had their worked published in the New York Times, the BBC, CNN, Mizzima and The Myanmar Times in Burma, The Irrawaddy and Phuket Wan in Thailand, Global Times in China, the Phnom Penh Post, The Hindu in India,  the Nepali Times, the Vancouver Sun, and the Zambian Bloggers Network in Southern Africa.

Ma Ning (MJ, 2013) interned in Yangon, Burma with The Myanmar Times, the only newspaper in the country with foreign funding. The paper’s Burmese co-founder, Sonny Swe, has been in prison since 2005 for publishing the paper without the approval of the government’s Ministry of Information.

Ma Ning (MJ, 2013)

Ma said that the paper’s history helped her appreciate the importance of journalism and credited her internship with helping her learn how a newspaper works from the inside.

“It never occurred to me that for someone who has almost no experience in an actual newsroom, I should worry about getting first-hand working experience and getting stories published! And that’s exactly what I did at The Myanmar Times”, Ma said.

Her stories ran on the opening up of Burmese bank ATMs to China’s UnionPay card holders, and the push by the United Nations to conduct the first official census in Burma since 1983. Her story on how non-governmental organizations use community theatre to advance gender equality and women’s rights in rural Burmese villages was also published.

She said that she was grateful for the trust and confidence her editor showed in her by regularly sending her to interview high-level officials. “I don’t think I would have had the same chance if I had done an internship somewhere else”, she said.

Ma was one of four JMSC students who went to Burma for internships over winter break – the first time the JMSC has sent students to intern in that country.

[The experiences of the other three students - Tony Yoo (MJ, 2013), Shirley Xiao (MJ, 2013) and Phoebe Peng (MJ, 2013) - may be read here.]

Echo Hui (MJ, 2013)

Echo Hui (MJ, 2013) interned at The Irrawaddy, a magazine founded by Burmese exiles in Thailand.

“I covered investigative stories, breaking news, scoops, and I had a chance to do some travel stories as well”, Hui said.

The Irrawaddy published her stories on the fate of refugees who fled persecution in Burma and into Thailand, the effects of China’s competition with the United States for greater influence in Burma, and how Chinese police rescued a daughter of a Kachin Independence Army officer from a forced marriage to a Chinese farmer. She also wrote a story on the trial of a Burmese druglord for the murder of over a dozen sailors on the Mekong River.

Two of Hui’s articles were translated into Burmese and she has been invited back to work for the magazine in June.

Anjani Trivedi (MJ 2013) interned at the New York Times bureau in New Delhi, and stories she wrote about the gang rape and subsequent death of a 23-year-old medical student were published in the newspaper’s “India Ink” blog.

Chen Yifei (MJ, 2013) was also in India for an internship.  She completed five weeks at The Hindu office in New Delhi.

The first story Chen worked on was that same gang rape, which made headlines around the world.

“I was asked to go online to Facebook and Twitter to get the online reaction to the rape”, Chen said. “It seems like a simple task but it’s actually challenging because some of the comments, like people demanding that the rapists be hung or castrated, are quite emotional and you can’t get much useful information out of them”.

Chen got her first byline when The Hindu published her story on how the Delhi Zoo keeps its animals warm during unusually cold temperatures in the winter.

Click on the hyperlinks to read other articles published by JMSC students this past winter:

Ammara Ahmad (MJ, 2013). Was Benazir a Victim of the System? Malaysiakini

Junchen Cao (MJ, 2013). Good Times Gone? Global Times. As a contributor.

Amanda Shuai (MJ, 2013). Interview with Yan Huichang. HK Magazine

Sherry Zhang (MJ, 2003). Charging Ahead. South China Sea

Paavan Mathema (MJ, 2013). Eye-opening: Photography brings life to blind students. CNN

Vincent Du (MJ, 2011) and his sound recordist at work filming Deqi for his documentary “Almost Famous”.

JMSC alumnus Vincent Du’s latest documentary has been picked up by Al Jazeera. “Almost Famous” features China’s largest school for rock music and will play on the network’s English-language programme, “Witness”. We caught up with Du (MJ, 2011) to hear how the project has evolved since Al Jazeera commissioned a version, and to get his take on successfully pitching and producing documentaries for the big networks:

Like much of Vincent Du’s other work, “Almost Famous” aims to show a side of Chinese society not generally seen by the outside world. The film follows the journey of seven-year-old Deqi, a protégé drummer at the Nine Beats Education Institution for Modern Music, to a percussion competition in Italy. Du explained that Deqi’s father, Mu, newly wealthy but from a poor rural background, “is looking to her to fulfill his dream”. Deqi was sent to board at the prestigious school and practices long hours in order to hone her talent. The film explores the impact that the stress of constant practice and competition and the pressure of meeting the expectations of China’s ambitious and aspirational parents has on a young child.

In July, Du sent a trailer that profiled three of Nine Beats’ young students to Open Call Asia, for consideration for Al Jazeera’s Viewfinder series, which showcases independent filmmaking from around the globe. Al Jazeera then invited Du to London to meet the “Witness” programme editor and executive producer to discuss the possibility of working together. His proposal was chosen for air after this meeting, but he was first asked to send still more preliminary work.

He submitted a piece made for JMSC professor Nancy Tong’s class that focused on the encroachment of urbanisation on a small Hong Kong village close to the mainland border called, “The Last Villagers“. Al Jazeera then asked Du to attend the Viewfinder workshop at the Busan International Film Festival in South Korea last October, where he worked to develop the story further. In the end, he was commissioned to shift the focus of “Almost Famous” to a more in-depth study of one single student.

Deqi’s parents watch Deqi practice at Nine Beats.

Du chose to focus on Deqi Mu, he explained, because her “family reflects the progress of Chinese society in transition…perfectly.” Her father was from an impoverished village, and was among the first generation of migrant workers to become wealthy owing to China’s economic reforms. A typical Chinese parent, Du continued, Mu “is investing everything in his daughter for the future of their family. So, as I see it, the documentary is not only about the little girl, but also about the whole family in contemporary Chinese society”.

He is currently mid-way through filming, and expects the product to be finalised by February. The release is scheduled for June.

Du advised anyone looking to market a documentary, or even starting out in documentary journalism, to learn as much as possible about the technical side, such as editing and filming techniques, before setting out. He said the most important thing to master was the ability to tell a compelling visual story that helps viewers make an emotional connection.  Du researches and pre-interviews his documentary ideas. He writes proposals and makes trailers before pitching, which he does through pitch competitions and events like the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam, the Sundance Festival in the U.S., and the Sheffield Documentary Festival in Britain.

Du has also found it “important to understand foreign [Western] media and how it works”. For example, he said, your work needs to explain cultural differences, unnecessary when working on a Chinese subject solely for a Chinese audience. “Western audiences may think that you cannot learn rock (music) like academic study, because it is free expression. But it is no difference for Chinese children to learn maths, English, ping pong or rock”, he said.

“Be inquisitive”, Du advised.  “You need to go to as many film festivals and workshops as possible”, because “you can’t get all the answers from the university”. But he still said he considered university the best place to start building a network. “You need to learn from classmates as well as teachers and keep contact with people, even though they may work in different areas”.

Deqi hikes with her father at The Great Wall.

According to Du, filmmaking is a continual learning process. He is in daily communication with his two producers – the Al Jazeera producer who is based in Malaysia, and the producer from the film production company OR Media who is based in London – but all the work is done remotely. Al Jazeera is overseeing the film’s progress, but ultimately Du said its up to him to film and edit the work before sending it to Al Jazeera as a finished product. OR Media is assisting Du with the production and post-production.

Du admits that working for the first time with the big networks can be daunting. He said you need a very clear idea of where you want your work to go, but you must also be flexible. “We have different opinions”, he said of his producers. “I think Deqi’s Italy scene should [be] put at the end of the film. The producer gives me another option that probably we can put this part at the beginning. Even though we have not made the final decision yet, I believe it is a good way to listen to producer’s opinion, as she’s more professional in terms of how to tell the story”.

In addition to “Almost Famous”, Du has produced shorts and documentaries about such issues as homosexuality, cancer and Catholicism in China. He said he hopes his work will help raise awareness of social issues in the country that are often hidden from outside view, and “make a bridge between China and the West.”

The large number of newspapers for sale on the street in Yangon, Burma indicate a newly thriving free press. (photo credit: Ying Chan)

Four students in the JMSC’s Master of Journalism programme are winding up the first internships the school has ever arranged in Burma.

Ma Ning (MJ, 2013) and Tony Yoo (MJ, 2013) interned with The Myanmar Times, whose co-founder and deputy CEO, Sonny Swe, has been in prison since 2005 for publishing the paper without government approval.

[Yoo's diary of his first week in Burma may be read here.]

Shirley Xiao (MJ, 2013) and Phoebe Peng (MJ, 2013) worked at Mizzima, one of the first independent news organizations in the country. It was founded by a group of Burmese journalists who were in exile in New Delhi, India where its head office is still located.

The internships are part of the JMSC’s new Burma Project, which was established to strengthen ties with the Burmese media and help support its development.

Phoebe Peng (MJ, 2013)

Peng said she wanted to go to Burma because it was in a time of historical transition and she wanted to see a newly developing democracy up close.  “I also wanted to know more about the Chinese people who have been living in Burma for centuries”, she said. “What was their life like? How did they see themselves? What did a Burmese Chinatown look like?”

While working at Mizzima, she got to answer some of those questions. She wrote about the new generation of Chinese who are growing up in Burma, and also about local non-governmental organization resistance to a US$2.4 billion industrial project financed by the China Development Bank.

Xiao said she saw the movie “The Lady” in 2011 and had wanted to go to Burma ever since. “It told the story of the opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who struggled to lead Burma to become a democracy and (who) became the first woman in Asia to win a Nobel Peace Prize”, said Xiao. “It made me want to come here myself to explore the issues of democracy, freedom, and human rights in Burma”.

She and Peng co-wrote articles about monks who were arrested during protests against a joint Burmese-Chinese mining project, and about Burma’s first international concert, featuring a performance by American musician Jason Mraz. Their articles have prompted Mizzima to publish its first ever issue devoted to China-related stories.

Shirley Xiao (MJ, 2013)

Ying Chan, director of the JMSC, said Burma is a special place. “Local change there is taking place at a very fast speed”, she said. “This is the latest frontier of news and journalism in Asia. It’s important for our students to go there and learn and be able to contribute to the opening of the country”.

Last fall Chan visited Burma with fellow board members of the Media Development Loan Fund, a New York-based non-profit that supports independent news outlets in countries that have a history of censorship.  The purpose of the visit was to gauge the state of the media in the country.

“There is lot of excitement in Burma for independent media and the development of a free and robust press”, she said.  “But there are a lot of challenges too. We’re cautiously optimistic about it”.

Lauren Dockett, the JMSC’s Professional Practice Manager, said the centre was enthusiastic about sending students to the country for the first time. “They warned us ahead of time that when it came to reporting and filing stories, the internet could be spotty and there were issues with a lot of the infrastructure”, she said. “But the students took it all in stride and published some terrific work”.

Hong Kong University has a long-standing relationship with Burma. Vice-Chancellor Professor Lap-Chee Tsui led a delegation to the capital, Naypyitaw, last November to present an honorary Doctor of Laws degree to Aung San Suu Kyi.  Swe Win (MJ, 2009), who spent seven years in prison in Burma for anti-government activities before he snuck out of the country and enrolled at the JMSC under a pseudonym, now regularly contributes op-ed pieces about Burma to the New York Times’s “Latitude” blog. He provided advice about setting up the internships.

Anjani Trivedi (MJ, 2013) interviewing protestors against the gang rape. (photo: Rahul Kotwal)

The purpose of internships is to show students what working in the real world of journalism is like.  Anjani Trivedi, a Master of Journalism student at the JMSC, got an unprecedented look at that world while working as an intern at the New York Times New Delhi Bureau this winter: she has helped cover the gang rape of a 23-year-old medical student, a story that has made headlines around the world.

So far, almost a dozen of Trivedi’s articles about the incident and its aftermath have appeared in the Times.  Here is her account of what it’s been like:

The young woman was gang-raped by six men on December 16 on a moving bus. She and her male friend were brutally assaulted by the attackers with an iron rod. As urban India was wrapped in fear, anger and shock, the girl struggled to hold onto life. Almost two weeks later, she died.

The story hit newsrooms and citizens on the morning of December 17th. Immediately, there were protests all over Delhi, which eventually spread to other big cities in India.

A lone mourner sits next to a line of candles at a protest of the rape. (photo: Anjani Trivedi)

The Indian media, notorious for sensationalizing and exaggerating, produced reams of details on the victim’s condition, but none were confirmable. At the New York Times’ New Delhi Bureau, we collected facts from verifiable and direct sources – from press conferences, police officers and doctors. Reporters from the Bureau discussed and covered different aspects of the case. This is the way most stories are approached at the  bureau.

Some of our pieces, which have been more detailed and specific, have been written for India Ink, a Times blog focused on India, while other stories, about the bigger picture, have been for the newspaper itself and its international edition, the International Herald Tribune.

We reported the rape on the 18th:

“The police said the men were looking for some fun. They had been drinking, having a party, and decided to go on a joy ride. They began circling the capital in a private bus, the police said, when they spotted a couple looking for a ride home. They waved the man and woman onboard and charged them each 36 cents.

“And then, the police said, the men beat the couple with an iron rod and repeatedly raped the woman as the bus circled the city. The woman suffered severe injuries to her head and intestines and required multiple operations, local news media reported, indicators of an assault so savage that India’s capital on Tuesday was shaking with public outrage. Protesters encircled a local police station and blocked a major highway. India’s parliament erupted in angry protests and condemnation”.

As the days progressed, the victim’s condition was closely monitored, and India was searching its soul.  In the newsroom, we explored questions of public transport, stronger laws and punishment.

The day after the rape, I went  to speak to people using all forms of public transport around the  capital city: what did they think was the issue? I reported on what people thought, a vox populi of sorts. There were conflicting views. Some were sympathetic to the harrassment woman face routinely, as expected:  “If you’re a woman, you’re not safe on public buses in Delhi”.

But others put part of the blame on the women themselves.  ”If you get raped, it’s probably your fault”.

On another day, I visited the young woman’s home and spoke to people who knew her. I presented a profile of the victim and put a human side to it.

One of the mourners for the rape victim with protest signs. (photo: Anjani Trivedi)

In the weeks after the attack, India’s youth came out in huge numbers – protesting, marching and mourning, because this young woman could have been any one them and her story resonated with them. She was, neighbors said, a symbol of a regular, educated young woman living in a city.

A key part of covering a developing story, especially one like this that has made international headlines, is staying on top of every element, every character, every detail. We have to make sure the details are put into the context of the entire story as it develops.

Today, I spoke to the lawyers for the accused rapists and reported that three of them are pleading not guilty.

Tomorrow, we will see how the story develops.

From left to right: Maitree Intusut, Governor of Phuket; Sophie Brown (MJ, 2013); Larry Cunningham, Australian Honorary Consul; and Anurak Tansiriroj, Honorary Consul of the Czech Republic.

Sophie Brown is a Master of Journalism student from Australia. She is in Thailand over the winter break working as an intern at Phuketwan, a web site that covers news, tourism, real estate, and nightlife on the island of Phuket.

Here is her summary of the experience so far:

Week One

It’s my first day at Phuketwan and I’m already meeting the movers and shakers of the island. The new governor is hosting a gala evening for Phuket’s dignitaries in honour of King Bhumiphol Adulyadej’s 85^th Birthday.

I attend with our Thai reporter, Chutima Sidasathian (known as Khun Oi). Among the guests I meet are Phuket’s governor and the honorary consuls of Australia and Denmark. The women at the event look stunning, wearing traditional Thai silk dresses and elaborate hairstyles.

The photos I take of the event appear as a photo gallery on Phuketwan’s website. (They may be seen here.)

Phuket media outside the house where a Hungarian man was murdered. (photo: Sophie Brown)

The other adventure of the week unfolds when police find the house where a Hungarian citizen murdered one of his co-nationals over a botched business deal before dumping his body in the nearby jungle.

The media are given access to the crime scene as forensic police dust for prints and check for blood stains. There’s a lot more waiting around than I expected, but it’s still an exciting experience.

[Brown's article about the search for the murder suspect may be read here.]

Week Two

Khun Oi is away this week and I’m struggling to find stories without her. So much here depends on speaking Thai and having good sources, neither of which are skills I possess.

The big story I am able to write about is the disappearance of an American man who was due to return to the States in early December but didn’t show up for his flight. His mother has flown to Phuket from Los Angeles, desperate for information about her son.

Mother of missing American man pleas to public for information on her son’s whereabouts. (photo: Sophie Brown)

I find it difficult to detach from the situation. It’s not easy to see a mother hold up photographs of her missing son before a crowd of journalists and flashing cameras in a police station.

[The article Brown wrote about Lynne Bean's offer of a reward for information about her son may be read here.]

For International Anti-Corruption Day, I interview anti-corruption campaigners and experts about corruption in Phuket. I’m delighted to see my story prompt readers to share their own experiences.

Week Three

My main task this week is to conduct interviews for our “Best of Phuket 2012” series.

The managing director of a new five-star resort on a nearby island gives me a tour of the facilities.

I interview Hong Kong’s national triathlon coach and one of their triathletes, both of whom are staying at an elite sports resort for training.

We also review a charming restaurant in Phuket Town that serves delicious modern Thai food.

Late on Thursday night after I’ve gone to bed, I hear a phone ring. An AirBerlin plane has made an emergency landing at Phuket Airport.

I call the airline’s head office in Berlin. Their media staff is quick to respond but they don’t have any more information than we do at the moment, and I know that when they do have further details, I’ll be a secondary priority for them behind the news agencies and big German papers.

I call the hotel where we’ve learned the stranded passengers from the flight will be staying tonight. We drive to the hotel and interview some of the passengers.

[Brown's article on the emergency landing of AirBerlin's Airbus A330 may be read here.]

The other English-language Phuket media outlets start to catch up and write their own stories. One of the reports has some serious inaccuracies, the most obvious one an identification of most of the passengers as Australians. In fact, most were Germans.

I monitor the German press to see their take on the news, and am alarmed to read the first story, then two more, refer to the inaccurate article of our competitor. Only one of the German newspapers includes the erroneous detail that the passengers were Australians, but I’m still shocked. These are large, established newspapers that should know better about checking sources.

Week Four

After spending my Christmas vacation kayaking and rock climbing along the spectacular coast near Krabi, I return to our office in Phuket, anxious to know what stories have broken while I’ve been gone.

“You missed the biggest news!” are Khun Oi’s first words as I walk in the door. She was right. Seventy-three members of the Rohingya ethnic group had landed in Phuket earlier that day after fleeing Burma.  They were heading for Malaysia, but their small boat was unable to make the full journey. I prepare Khun Oi’s photos of the refugees in Photoshop for uploading to the website.

This week I finish writing my final story in the “Best of Phuket 2012” series. The judges chose Phuket’s famous ladyboy song-and-dance show, Simon Cabaret, as business of the year.

I spoke to the vice president of Simon Cabaret, who has taken over much of the business from his parents. He grew up with the shows, but as I write the story I can’t help but wish I’d had a chance to speak with his mother, who has been the guardian of the ladyboys since the shows first started 20 years ago. The man knows all about the business, but I’m missing the detailed anecdotes I’m looking for.

Taxi drivers gather outside a police station to protest Russian tourism vendors. (photo: Sophie Brown)

On Thursday evening, just as we’re getting ready for bed, Khun Oi’s phone rings. Dozens of tuk-tuk drivers have blocked the street outside a police station and are protesting against the increasing number of Russian tourism operators who, as the locals see it, are stealing their business without investing any of the profits into the local economy.

We quickly jump in the car and drive to the scene. I’m supposed to be there as an observer, but suddenly I find myself the centre of attention as the only foreigner.

At one point, a man walks over to us and starts yelling at me in Thai. We realise he thinks I’m Russian!  Khun Oi and I explain to him that I’m Australian and a journalist. We eventually convince him to let us carry on with the job, but it’s an unsettling feeling.

Observations:

It’s a very small operation here. There are three Thai reporters (a new reporter joined us just before New Year’s) and one editor. We’re up against other English-language news sites that have 30 to 50 staff, so it can be a lot of hard work to stay ahead.

I’m constantly scanning social media for story ideas and to see what our competitors are doing. But by far the majority of ideas for stories come from our reporters’ sources, so we rely on having good relationships with people, especially with police officers and public officials.

Sophie Brown (MJ, 2013)

I’m cautious about making judgements after such a short time here, but  I have noticed that there’s not the same sense of public accountability here that I’m used to in Australia.

For example, the government stopped publishing Phuket’s road accident figures in 2012 (people speculate that the high figures were seen as bad for Phuket’s image). But without formal statistics and reports, so much of finding a good story depends on how willing public officials are to share information with journalists.

There are also major problems with transport in Phuket. The roads are often clogged and the taxis and tuk-tuks are expensive. There’s next to no public transport, and attempts by the most determined public officials to establish a public system have been thwarted by the mafia who control the taxi networks.

Disputes over land, especially the highly valuable beachfront properties, are another administrative headache for the island.

One of our Thai reporters likes to say that Thailand has perfect weather, perfect food, perfect people, perfect nature, but there are too many selfish people. It’s her way of saying that greed and corruption is ruining what should be an idyllic place.

In 2012, over 4 million overseas visitors came to Phuket. Most of them would not experience the problems beyond being overcharged for a taxi or having to walk through a maze of resorts to reach the beach from their hotel room. But Phuket could be so much better.

Anna-Karin Lampou (MJ, 2013) holding a copy of the Nepali Times at a newsstand in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Anna-Karin Lampou, a Master of Journalism student from Sweden, is interning at the Nepali Times in Kathmandu, Nepal for six weeks over winter break.

Here is what it was like for her last week:

December 16

Sunday – the first day of my second week here in Nepal.

I’m getting used to the noisy, dusty, and polluted streets of Kathmandu and starting to see its beauty.

What is less easy to get used to is the constant lack of electricity or an Internet connection, which are crucial for writing stories and doing research. Somehow, Kathmandu’s papers still come out, thanks to equal doses of passion and backup power.

We’re having our power cut for about twelve hours a day now due to Nepal’s insufficient energy supply. In order to see some progress and development, I think it’s really in the interest of the nation to take advantage of its rich water resources.

I attended a human rights conference this morning. Because Nepal is still politically unstable following the civil war, which resulted in the end of a 240-year old monarchy and the establishment of a federal democratic republic in 2008, it’s important for the country to come to terms with its past.

So far, no one has been held accountable for what happened during the decade-long conflict and people are calling for the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

I won’t be reporting on the conference itself, but I have had the opportunity to talk to people working for human rights at the grassroots level. The plan is to head out near the end of my stay to one of the districts where an organization trains “human rights defenders” to support the civil society.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed I’ll be able to fit it in.

In the afternoon I met with the editor-in-chief to discuss story ideas. His thoughts and advice are invaluable when pitching a story.

Before I arrived in Nepal I had a long list of topics in mind, but it’s one thing to sit in another part of the world and brainstorm some ideas, and another to actually be here and write for a paper which has covered almost everything already, from all sorts of angles.  What’s new for me might be old news for Nepal, so I’m trying to find a balance between my interests and stories with newsworthy angles.

Since the Nepali Times is a weekly newspaper, its articles are more in-depth, like feature stories, and are able to take the reader further than the fast hard news of a daily paper.

It’s a motivating challenge to apply what we’ve learned in class to actual stories going to print.

December 17

Monday – I’m writing a story on how three of the  Nordic countries – Norway, Finland and Denmark – make up the second-largest bilateral donor to Nepal.

A quarter of Nepal’s GNP comes from foreign donors, so I thought it would be interesting to see how the donors perceive the future development of the country. I’m also investigating why Sweden, the largest Nordic country, is not present in Nepal, while the others have had such a strong presence here for decades.

Last week, I interviewed the Finnish ambassador about foreign aid.  Today I went to the Norwegian embassy for more interviews. I think it’ll make a good story.

December 18

Tuesday – Christmas is coming and we’re doing a Christmas special on bakeries and chocolate. The editor sent me to meet a woman who makes homemade chocolate in Kathmandu’s only ’chocolate factory’. Yummy

[Lampou's article on Kathmandu's Christmas chocolate may be read here.]

In the afternoon I went to Gopalkrishna Gandhi’s talk about leadership in South Asia. It was a thoughtful speech by the Mahathma’s grandson.

December 19

Wednesday – I met the Danish ambassador to conduct the last interview for the Nordic donor story.

Once again it was pretty clear from the interview that the Nordic countries stand strongly for democracy, focusing on social sectors to strengthen national institutions and – at the government’s behest – to increase investment in infrastructure, energy and growth.

Anna-Karin Lampou (MJ, 2013) in the Nepal countryside.

December 20

Thursday - Today is the big deadline day as the paper goes to print in the afternoon. Can’t wait to see my byline in Friday’s paper!

Thursdays are very dynamic in the office. It’s a small team so the editor, reporters, and designer work closely together with editing, proofreading, and final cuts.

Apart from some proofreading, I spent most of the day writing my story, transcribing the interviews (which takes ages) and doing some other research.

Everyone is competing against the electric power outage that can hit anytime. Ctrl-S (to save our work on the computer) quickly becomes a mantra.

December 21

Friday – I finally got a hold of Nepal’s foreign aid division for my story on Nordic aid.

I got a driver to take me through the tight security controls at the Ministry of Finance for an interview with the chief of foreign aid. Like many other people I talked to, he had hope for Nepal’s future, but emphasized some crucial steps that Nepal has to take in order to reach its development targets.

It’s such a great opportunity to be here and meet all of these people who share their viewpoints on Nepal.

[Lampou's story on Nordic aid to Nepal may be read here.]

A selection of media organizations taking JMSC interns this winter.

JMSC students have landed 70 internships at media companies in 10 countries over the fall semester and winter break.

The number of internships is a quarter higher than last year and the highest for one semester in the school’s history.

“Winter break can be a tough time to place interns, especially as so many companies are working with a skeleton staff over the holidays”, said Lauren Dockett, the JMSC Professional Practise Manager.

“But employers are inclined to take JMSC students if they can”, Dockett said. “They tell us they are good reporters, mature and eager workers, and possess the digital skills that are often in demand in their modern newsrooms”.

The placements include Associated Press Television News (APTN), BBC, CNN,  International Herald Tribune (IHT), The Irrawaddy, Phuket Wan, Sina Weibo, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Phnom Penh Post, Ten News Australia, The Hindu, Nepali Times, Vancouver Sun, YZZK, and the international Public Relations firm Ogilvy and Mather.

Sophie Brown (MJ, 2013)

Sophie Brown, a Master of Journalism (MJ) student from Australia, is currently an intern at Phuket Wan in Thailand, a web site that covers news, tourism, real estate, and nightlife on the island of Phuket.

The site has only two reporters and one editor and competes with two English language newspapers, each with a staff of  several dozen people.

“What I really want to learn [at Phuket Wan] is how to make the most of limited resources, gain an insight into running a news web site on a shoestring budget, and how to find good stories in a place where English is not the native language”, said Brown.

In the first two weeks of her internship, Brown has written about International Anti-Corruption Day, an American surfer who went missing just before he was scheduled to fly back to the United States, and the nation-wide hunt for a murder suspect.

Anna-Karin Ernstson Lampou (MJ, 2013)

Anna-Karin Ernstson Lampou, an MJ from Sweden, is doing a six-week internship at The Nepali Times in Kathmandu.

“I’ve always been interested in development studies”, Lampou said. “And I wanted to write articles related to social, political and environmental issues. Nepal is one of the world’s poorest countries, so there are plenty of stories to be written”.

“It’s a place where I can get a lot of practical experience as a reporter”, she said.

Shinichi Terada, an MJ from Japan, is interning at The Hindu Business Line in Chennai, India. He covers local business events, the manufacturing industry, and foreign communities in the city.

Shinichi Terada (MJ, 2013), second from right, with the research team at The Hindu Business Line.

“India, its economy is definitely making large strides, alongside China, so it was natural for me to choose India as an internship destination”, Terada wrote in an article for The Hindu Business Line about his decision to come to India for an internship.

“I’d kept track of the country’s growth in the past years by reading news articles, but I realised this wasn’t enough”, he wrote. ”I wanted to be in the middle of it all: to witness face-to-face the development of India, how it is impacting the world, and to be able to find my own words to express it by writing my own stories”.

Karen Chang, a Master of Journalism student from China, is an intern on the internet desk at The Hindu in Chennai.

Karen Chang (MJ, 2013)

Chang said that while she has experience working at a monthly magazine, she wanted to know what it was like to work at a daily newspaper like The Hindu.

“So far, I’ve learned how to use internal systems to edit wire news and make slide shows”, she said.

“This internship is perfect for me”, said Chang. “I can not only experience Indian culture, but also learn how it works in a big newspaper agency. And I will be able to hone the skills I learned [at the JMSC], like in the writing and reporting courses”.

Tony Yoo (MJ, 2013)

Tony Yoo, an Australian who entered the Master of Journalism programme at the JMSC this year on a Data Journalism Scholarship funded by Google, is interning at The Myanmar Times in Yangon, Burma during the winter break.

Here’s what his first week in Burma was like:

Day 1

One year ago in Sydney, long before I ever had an inkling that I would be studying journalism in Hong Kong, I watched a documentary about the trials and tribulations of The Myanmar Times.

I thought, “Wow, those people lead extraordinary lives. How I’d love to be doing something like that”.

Now I’m here in Yangon, meeting all the “characters” I saw on a cinema screen. I’m a bit star-struck.

I quickly learn that the censorship difficulties documented in the film have all but disappeared. In August, government restrictions were lifted and it has really turned The Myanmar Times into more of a “normal” newspaper.

At my first editorial meeting, 14 female Myanmar reporters pitch ideas to three male editors. Professor Ying Chan (director of the JMSC) did warn us that these days, journalism is a female-dominated industry.

I’ve just arrived in Burma, so I’m stressing and struggling to come up with story ideas.

Day 2

The Myanmar cricket team is going to a tournament in Thailand later this week. Huzzah!

Accompanied by a local sports reporter, I head to Aung San Stadium to meet with the Myanmar cricket team representative. I had asked to speak to the coach and the captain, but the representative has only brought himself.

[Yoo's article on the Myanmar cricket team may be read here]

The front of the Myanmar Times office building in Yangon, Burma (Tony Yoo)

Day 3

Whenever I come up with a story idea, it seems to have been covered before, someone else is covering it, or there’s some additional information that makes it not newsworthy. This is hard.

In the afternoon, though, I have an inspiration:

The Myanmar Times has several Australian expatriate staff members, but no one is yet writing about the Burmese President’s upcoming visit to Australia and New Zealand. My editor agrees that I should write it up.

Day 4

Oh no! The president has cancelled the trip. My editor tells me that I should still write about the trip’s cancellation.

“The cancellation will probably make the story more interesting”, he says.

I also think to write about Myanmar’s low ranking on the Corruption Perceptions Index. My editor is careful to guide me to write a balanced view – there are plenty of opinions discrediting Myanmar’s low ranking.

Day 5

I see on the Internet that an Australian bank is to open in Myanmar. The business editor asks me to write it up. This reporting thing seems a lot easier than it did three days ago.  One of the editors also shows me what happens to the stories after submission – how layouts are done before it all goes to print.

Day 6

Interns are not required to come in on Saturdays. But knowing that most expat staff are going to be in to make last-minute preparations for the print run that night, I show up to see what they do. I’m excited at the thought of seeing my stories in print. I can’t wait for Monday morning.

Observations

I discover during the week that most of the expat staff at The Myanmar Times are deeply committed to the country. They’re now well settled here with spouses, families, and houses – even children in some cases. These are the true trailblazers in a country with not much English-language media.

The people of Myanmar are so friendly and honest. The country itself is a delight to visit as a foreigner. As it hasn’t yet been trampled through with tourists, there are very few locals getting in your face trying to sell something or scam you.  There’s a wonderful authenticity with all the interaction I have with the Myanmar people.

But walking through Yangon, I feel a tinge of sadness seeing the crumbling infrastructure. Footpaths, roads, traffic, public transport, water, sewerage, electricity – it is all in disrepair, and knowing that decades of oppressive isolationist military rule caused this makes me angry inside. The country was one of the most developed in Asia at the time of independence in 1948 – this makes it even sadder.

Another noticeable aspect is the youth of the shop workers, young children working in restaurants and teahouses. Many families here can’t afford for their children to continue their education much past primary school.

As for freedom of speech, it has improved dramatically in just 18 months.

In August, the Ministry of Information announced that it would no longer censor private publications. And while the government cracked down violently on the protest against a Chinese-owned copper mine at the end of November, the fact that there was a protest at all is a sign of improvement. The government even apologised for the excessive use of force against the protestors, which is notable considering what the junta was like just a couple of years ago. 

I have had more than one article published that was critical of the country, and that would not have been possible as late as July this year, when pre-publication censorship still applied. (An article I wrote for The Myanmar Times on freedom of the press in Burma may be read here.)

But Sonny Swe, the Burmese co-founder and deputy CEO of The Myanmar Times, is still in prison for publishing the paper without the approval of the Ministry of Information, serving a term that began in 2005. Thoughts of his plight hang over the organization, with one veteran journalist telling me: “I will stay in Burma until Sonny Swe is released”.

Tony Yoo is on Twitter at twitter.com/TonyYooAUS.

Click for Radio 1's schedule

The University of Hong Kong, the JMSC’s parent institution, is one of five institutions cooperating with RTHK on the project.

The others are Chu Hai College of Higher Education, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Shue Yan University and Hong Kong Baptist University.

Students will apply the skills learned from the JMSC’s Radio News and Online Journalism courses to produce five-minute segments for broadcast during RTHK Radio 1′s morning Talkabout show and its evening Phone Openline Openview.

The collaboration will last for eight weeks from February 13 to April 6. The JMSC’s pre-recorded packages will run each Wednesday.

The JMSC has picked 12 students — six BJs, five MJs and one BA — for the production team.

MJ Chloe Deng is one: “The project is a great way to learn radio news production and also to work in a real environment. I hope to obtain the practical skills used in this sector, such as planning, interviewing and dealing with sound bites and effects. I also see it as an opportunity to find out whether I am suitable for radio,” she said.

Students will attend a series of training workshops run by Rachel Li, Edmund Siu and Kevin Lau to prepare them for the project

Li is a veteran news broadcaster and a senior consultant for Breakthrough, a non-profit making Christian organisation that provides cultural and educational services for young people.  Siu is a producer at Now Sports,  and Lau is an online producer and tutor at the JMSC.