Diary of an Internship at the Jakarta Globe

Budding journalist and MJ student, Phillippa Stewart, has kept a diary of the first week of her internship at the Jakarta Globe.

The Globe is an English language broadsheet newspaper printed in Indonesia. Published daily, it covers national and international news, Indonesian and world business, and features and lifestyle pages.

Day One: December 7th

I started work at 11 o’clock. Having never been in a newsroom I was unsure of what to expect. I was assigned to the features desk and met the features editors Weny and Tom. I was asked to write four pieces for their Spotlight column and Corner page – these are daily features on a specific topic. They also asked for any ideas I had and they commissioned me to write a piece on surfing in Indonesia.

After I had waded my way through the week’s papers, I got stuck into writing the Spotlight and Corner features. Left at 7.30.

Day Two: December 8th

Arrived at 10 and finished writing the two Spotlight columns. Went out for lunch with Weny and another features writer, Katrin. Was asked if I wanted to cover a piece about a new pilates studio opening in Jakarta. Given my inflexibility this should be interesting…

I am sat in the web department due to lack of seats in features and it was interesting to hear how a story idea came about from twitter. One of the writers was following twitter and heard that a statue of Obama as a boy was going to be erected in Jakarta. This is apparently the first statue of Obama outside the USA.

After lunch I started working on the surfing piece until 6pm.

Day Three: December 9th

Finished writing my surfing piece and then, joy, oh, joy, an outing – I went to zoo. Wasn’t sure quite what to expect as I am not the biggest fan of zoos. However, one of the reporters was doing a feature on the primate centre and the features editor thought it might be fun for me to see how their reporters operate in the field. Didn’t understand a word of what was being said in interviews but I made sure I smiled in the right places, and watching the gorilla keeper playing with the gorilla was fun.

Got back into the office, made some edits on my surfing piece and headed home.

Day Four: December 10th

Saw my first spotlight column in print today – most exciting. Katrin, one of the feature writers, is away next week so needs me to cover her Spotlight and Corner columns for the whole week. Had to pitch ideas to her and find things that hadn’t been done already and then start work on them. Although, small, and they don’t have a byline, they take a lot of research! Each column highlights five trends, people or groups and looks at their history.

Looking into feminist literature, and environmental organisations this afternoon.

Day Five: December 11th

Finished working on the spotlight and corner columns and went for sushi with some of the features team. They then took me to see a popular Indonesian band called Deewa.

A fun day, and an interesting first week.