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| What I call as the writer's starter pack: coffee, pen and notebook, and iPad mini for the Wifi to connect with. |
AS A STUDENT journalist, there are a bundle of media outlets to
choose from for your internship curriculum. You have to prefer the company that
will spark your inner journalistic spirit. If you want to learn the whole
package, then work with the best. Don't just settle for what's simple and easy,
because life is not a piece of cake in the media industry, it's the whole
recipe you need to look for by yourself.
For the month of April, I had the chance to observe, participate
and appreciate first hand the opportunities at Sun.Star Daily Newspaper, a
leading publication in readership of Cebu, Philippines. And here are my top 7
unforgettable and awesome experiences:
In Sun.Star Cebu, you will receive your assignment via text
message usually at 9pm and a reminder early in the morning, and then you will
have to take off to the field and cover.
1. The Unanticipated Assignments
At the first few days on the job, your senior correspondent will
guide you. But in my case, my senior was on a day-off. “Try not to panic,” I told myself. What I did was I went on 15
minutes ahead on my assigned beat. Police Beat. Oh, this one I know, it’s the usual homework at school. Police beat
is where you get news about crime reports. And these reports are typewritten
and compiled by the police through the night for the media. It contains only basic information
like names of the suspect, victim, place it occurred, time, date, and one
simple ‘how-it-happened’ scenario. The details go out to the journalist, where we investigate deeper on the subject. I
always get thrilled in receiving my next task.
Note: You have to be 15 minutes early always when you are assigned
to an event. It is important to witness the occasion from head to foot.
2. No. 1 in Readership
When you are on duty, you will get to a point where you want to
know from a random stranger the newspaper he or she reads. Survey time! I was
with a co-intern from other newsprint company when she asked a police “What is your choice of newspaper?”
Gladly, the police answered “Sun.Star.” I
was touched being part of the ‘club.' But we didn’t take it seriously we
laughed it out.
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| The Sun.Star Newsroom with Ms Ging (left), Ms Razel and Ms SML , Sir EOB. Look how busy they are, and I am there like nothing is going on with the world. |
3. The Editors
The editors literally scare me. I find them quiet intimidating.
Luckily, my senior correspondent was the previous editor-in-chief in my
university publication and I was under his administration. He taught me to stay
cool, because the editors don’t bite. And have a “fake office laugh.” It’s better than hiding in the corner, and not
saying a thing. Socialize.
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| In the dark room, pretty messed up - even the chair needs repair. |
5. The Dark Room
After two weeks, I got the chance to take photos for the
newspaper. And the photo department office is called The Dark Room. I know. It is really dark in the dark
room? Nope. There are lights like any other office have, but of course if you
turn off the lights you will be surrounded with the shadow of death (nope,
don’t believe that!). The editors just call it that way, since it is a small
room - good for less than ten people. The Dark room looks like it hasn’t been
cleaned since 2012. Stuff is everywhere; old cameras, wires, bags, trashes. Men
occupy the room. All photojs at Sun.Star are legendary male photographers. I
was the only rose – intern even.
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| On a phone call interview. I prefer personal interview but when subjects are too far away, you can always connect with them through line wires. |
6. The Interviews
To make your story come to life, you have to take quotes from
prominent people who can give you enough or exact answers you want to hear. Don’t
be afraid to ask for contact details to your senior editor in case you forgot
to ask from the source. Sometimes, before I make calls, I think about it first
if it is highly needed, even though I only have one question unanswered. I list
the questions down on paper and I practice it before actually calling. It’s
crazy.
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| I enjoyed a good late dinner at the Dessert Factory in Ayala Terraces. It was my last day of internship at Sun.Star. A bit-sweet celebration with Sam who took the picture. |
7. The Freebies
This is probably a front-runner best thing ever when covering
events, to receive freebies from a newly opened store or in any event in that
matter. Especially when you cover Food Expo, clothing brands, technology, and
restaurants. They are the real MVP! They make me love my work. They make me
love writing.
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| Ms Linette, the associate editor of Sun.Star, who checks my stories. She's a smiley person, but you'll know in snap when she's not in the mood. |
8. The Published Stories
Of course, all effort is paid off when you see not just your
name but also your stories on print. Though, sometimes your story will have to
wait for another day to get published, or worst not, because probably there are
much heavier news to cover up and needed attention. If you don’t want this to
happen, better look for interesting, important, timely, hard and heavy news out
there. It might not be easy looking for one, but who knows you’ll end up front
page of the newspaper if you do it.
There are a lot more than 8 experiences from Sun.Star, but
these were unforgettable - the most common I hear from my co-interns too.
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| Sir Joseph, Editor of Superbalita and our Instructor. He was editing and layouting a certain page for the SuperB newspaper. |
If you want to have your internship at Sun.Star, I might
connect you to the brilliant and keen editors there. Just drop an email, and I’ll
get to you.
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