When it came time to start thinking about her summer internships, UBC journalism student Lena Smirnova’s first inclination was to explore local options.
“I was applying for the Vancouver Sun internship and thought about The Province,” she said. “But then I looked on the web and saw there were all of these English papers in Russia.”
Lena was born in Russia and has close ties to the country that she once called home. She reached out to one of the English newspapers in Moscow and exchanged a few emails with the editor-in-chief. Six months later Lena was transported from her local Vancouver beat to the business desk of The Moscow Times.
The internship program at the UBC Graduate School of Journalism is an integral part of the learning process. The 12-week internship is designed to bridge the gap between the classroom and the newsroom and help shape a student’s career path.
Students have interned at Canadian newsrooms such as CBC, Global TV, CTV, the Globe and Mail and the Vancouver Sun, as well as international news organizations such as the New York Times and Reuters.
Lena had to consider important logistics in planning an internship experience abroad. Travel insurance, visas, accommodation and language constraints are some of the details that need to be ironed out before pursuing opportunities internationally.
Bearing all of that in mind, she strongly encourages other students to consider international news outlets when thinking about internships.
“I was able to pitch my own stories and do a lot of traveling,” Lena said. “For me it was about learning about Russian journalism and how to operate in that environment.”
From global to local
Tyler Harbottle also considered pursuing an international internship but soon realized that many of the issues he wanted to cover were playing out in Vancouver and British Columbia.
“Drug addiction in the Downtown EastSide, housing, Aboriginal rights, exploitation of resources; those are all things that I’m interested in and I realized that those are all happening right here in our backyard,” Tyler said.
The Tyee, a B.C. online magazine focusing on local issues, proved to be the ideal place for Tyler to learn how to bring those topics to light.
Reporting, writing and editing long-form pieces of journalism was challenging, rewarding and precisely what Tyler was hoping to experience.
“You need to know what you want, and you have to be able to go out and get it,” he said.
Matching interests with experiences
Claudia Goodine, perhaps just as importantly, knew what type of internship she did not want to pursue. Looking beyond the 24-hour news cycle of news, she set her sights on radio and feature writing.
Claudia split her internship time at CBC Radio in Toronto and Canadian Geographic in Ottawa.
Working for two major national news outlets catapulted Claudia out of the classroom and into the professional realm.
“It forced me to really start taking myself seriously as a journalist,” she said.
Claudia enjoyed the creativity afforded by radio and the dynamic work environment of the CBC. She switched gears to join the Canadian Geographic team and was offered the opportunity to develop stories she really cared about.
Splitting the 12-week internship between two different experiences enabled her to focus on a variety of interests while making a number of invaluable connections.
“Get to know your editors and producers,” Claudia said. “They have a wealth of insight and experience to share.”
If there is one piece of advice that resonates with both students and faculty, it is the importance of knowing what you want to gain from the 12-week internship.
The experience is what you make it to be. Taking the time to consider what your priorities are will help to ensure an enjoyable experience. It’s your internship – make the most of it.
UBC journalism student Shannon Dooling interned at New Hampshire Public Radio.
