6 Ways to Make the Most of Your Internship Experience

There's a lot of information and advice thrown at you when leading up to an internship. A lot of it centres around the practicalities of what to wear, how to act and what time to show up. These are all important little housekeeping items, but what happens when you're on the job? 

The internship is your foot in the door to these places and it's up to you to make the most of it. You're there to learn, but also to connect with people and get a sense of what the industry is like. Here's some advice for how to make the best of your internship opportunities.

1 - Don't Panic

It can be intimidating walking into a newsroom without the same level of experience a reporter would have. But don't get too anxious, you're here to learn. While most newsrooms expect you to be competent and have a decent range of skills, most of them don't expect you to jump into the role and be a Walkley winning journo.

Most places will understand that you lack the years of experience their paid staff have and ease you into the position there. Producers and reporters will usually take the time to show you the ropes and are happy to help with any problems that arise, which brings us to our next point...

2 - Ask dumb questions

It's important to show you're experienced, knowledgeable and that you can be good addition to the newsroom you're interning at, but don't let it be at the cost of your experience.

You're here to learn from people working in the industry and have access to people who probably wouldn't give you the time of day otherwise. If you don't know something, ask! It doesn't matter how dumb the question might be in your head, this is the opportunity!

3 - Keep busy

Newsrooms are finely tuned machines, with each person carrying out a specific role in telling people what's happening in the world. Don't sit around waiting for people to assign you stories and tasks, often they're too busy to check whether the intern needs work.

Ask around - Can a producer give you some work? Can you go along with a camera crew on a shoot? The worst thing they can do is say no. It shows people you're there to help with anything they need, and it sure beats sitting there checking Twitter every two minutes.

4 - Prepare for long days

Unfortunately for journalists, news doesn't follow a nine-to-five cycle. Something is always happening and when news breaks late, expect to stay late. It's no small feat to whip together a whole day's news in a couple hours or less, so it's all hands on deck when that happens.

Even on a normal day, you'll be always on, trying to do your best work. It can be really tiring when you're not used to using 100% of your brain all day, so it's important you take care of yourself. Nobody is going to tell you to go have lunch, and don't expect a clear cut break. In most cases it's up to you to find a few minutes to get a bite to eat.

5 - Network, Network, Network!

During the internship you've got the weight of a newsroom backing you. Whether it's The Sydney Morning Herald or the Milton Ulladulla Times, having that name behind you opens up so many more doors than saying you're a student journalist or freelance. People will listen to your questions, doors will open that were shut before. 

Networking doesn't stop outside the newsroom either. Take time to meet everyone in the newsroom and introduce yourself. Engage in conversation and get involved in workplace events. Connect with people on LinkedIn and follow them on Twitter. Most newsrooms get in a few interns every year so it's up to you to ensure they remember your name when you leave.

The networking doesn't have to stop when your internship is over. Send emails every 4-6 weeks to the people you connected best with, message them about the stories they did, remain engaged.

6 - Pitch stories

Some newsrooms expect you to come in with ten ideas for stories every morning. Others don't expect you to have developed news gathering skills. Regardless of expectation or skill you're a journalist in a newsroom. You should be treating this like a real job and that extends to pitching stories and passing on news tips.  

It's also important to know your audience when pitching. Don't tell a sports journalist your cracker yarn about a state politician, pitch to the reporter who's on the round or a producer. Oh, and don't wait until the final week of the internship to share your great story idea. Get in early so there's time to work on it and who knows, maybe you'll have the next front page story.

As mentioned before, you have the weight of a newsroom behind you and that can be a great help in working your own story tips. Just make sure you pitch the story first before using an organisation's credentials so you have their blessing to chase the lead. 

You don't have to stop pitching once you've left, either. If you stumble upon a massive story, pitch it to the people who might help you publish it. One of my classmates found a compelling story about some extreme fliers handed out by the president of a school board, and used a connection at The Age to get it published there.

Last of all, the most important thing is to have fun! Journalism is an exciting and dynamic profession where every day is different. The possibilities are limitless!

Disclaimer: These views do not represent the organisations I have interned at, they are my own opinions. Your internship experiences may vary across different newsrooms.

CNN Threatens to Dox Meme Creator, Refuses to Apologise

No, this isn't an article from The Onion.

It's been a tough year for CNN as they face steady criticism on their coverage of the US president and his administration. CNN's biggest critic, Donald Trump, tweeted an edited video from 2007 of his time in the WWE, where he wrestles Vince McMahon with a CNN logo on his head. 

#FraudNewsCNN #FNN pic.twitter.com/WYUnHjjUjg

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 2, 2017

It's not the first time Trump has vented his opinions of the news network, but CNN has taken the troubling action of locating the original creator of the meme and threatened to reveal the identity, or dox, the anonymous creator if he backs down on his apology.

Is that normal? Is @CNN essentially threatening to dox him, or am I reading that wrong? pic.twitter.com/7LMMqo1fK5

— Philip DeFranco (@PhillyD) July 5, 2017

Doxxing is often done to controversial or notorious figures on the internet where their personal information is released. This can vary between revealing someone's real name, to their contact details, or to even to their home address. This can lead to bullying, harassment, and even threats of violence.

It's a serious action, one which is usually done by malicious parties on shadier parts of the internet. A journalist's job involves finding and contacting people for news stories, so it's no surprise somebody at CNN found the real identity and contact details of this person. In their article [LINK] CNN said they emailed and called him, so they have plenty of information about him should they choose to dox him.

In the wake of the fierce criticism they have received, CNN released a statement explaining their actions, and it clarifies a few things, but raises even more questions:

CNN decided not to publish the name of the Reddit user out of concern for his safety. Any assertion that the network blackmailed or coerced him is false. The user, who is an adult male, not a 15-year-old boy, apologized and deleted his account before ever speaking with our reporter. CNN never made any deal, of any kind, with the user. In fact, CNN included its decision to withhold the user's identity in an effort to be completely transparent that there was no deal.

CNN rebuffed assertions by 4Chan and Reddit users that the meme creator is a 15 year old, clarifying that he's an adult. They also insisted the phrasing of the original article was to establish that they had made no deal to keep the man's identity a secret. Also, the user did not delete his account before speaking with the reporter.

What's missing in their statement is any form of apology. The prospect of having your identity unveiled by a national news network would be terrifying, especially when you're caught in the middle of a fight between the President and CNN. The internet isn't kind to people who are doxxed and even the slightest suggestion that they would reveal this man's identity is unacceptable.

I'm unfamiliar with the ethical frameworks of the media in the US (do they even have industry wide codes of ethics?) but the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, the Australian journalism industry's professional association, has the following in their code of ethics:

11. Respect private grief and personal privacy. Journalists have the right to resist compulsion to intrude.

No doubt this story will continue to unfold over the coming days, but for now we can enjoy all the memes that Reddit and 4Chan have created in response to CNN. Hopefully they won't dox these people!

The Little Things

A YouTuber I watch did a series where he talked about all the things he was doing by separating it all into little, medium and big things. When I looked at this website the other day, I realised the entire about me section was blank. What was I thinking when making this website? There's no better way to kick off this blog than to tall you a bit about myself. Here's what I'm up to at the moment, starting with the Little Things.

Photography

With everything else going on in my life, photography has taken a back seat this year. I dabbled in event photography for a few years with some success, but the intensity of my studies and internships  has relegated this side hustle to the Little Things. I still take photos though, and if you need a photographer for your next event, or anything else really, just hit me up (shameless plug).

Dungeons & Dragons

Some friends got me into D&D about five years ago and we would get together most weeks to play it. That group sort of faded away last year as we moved onto new things, but it hasn't stopped me playing.

A few months ago a buddy of mine started hosting a D&D campaign over Skype from Iceland, where we have people calling in from Singapore, Melbourne and the US. It's sometimes difficult managing all those time zones, but when we do get together, it's such a great time. The challenge, adventure and socialising are a really great mix.

I've never been good at explaining what D&D is to people who aren't familiar with it, but this explains it really well. I might write up the next session on this blog to give you an idea of what it's like too.

My good old iPhone 4, seen after the tragic accident at a tram stop

Phone Repairs

I have broken every phone I've ever owned, except the one I currently use (but that's only a matter of time). When I smashed my iPhone 4 at a tram stop in 2012, I decided to teach myself how to repair it. With a little know how and several hours of patient work I figured it out and won myself a good as new phone.

Over the next two years I offered repair services to anyone who would pay me to fix their phone, eventually branching out into iPads. After phone repair shops started popping up everywhere and slashing their prices I just couldn't compete. Parts suppliers began dropping their standards and that resulted in problems with reliability. Eventually I packed it in, the headaches it caused me obliterated any enjoyment it gave me. 

I still repair the occasional phone for friends and family and enjoy this little hobby so much more now. 

Snowboarding

I've put this in the Little Things category, but I really want to start hitting the slopes more often. I went to Mt Hotham for school camp years ago and loved it. Last year I revisited the snow and getting back on the board was just like riding a bike, though the video I made didn't look that way. 

I'm not very sporty so it's nice to have a physical activity that I enjoy. The ski resorts in Australia aren't much by world standards, but it's pretty good for a country that's 70% desert. Maybe someday I'll snowboard overseas, but for now I'll settle for a three hour drive to Mt Buller.

Reading

For most of high school I refused to read anything. Call it a rebellion against my intellectual side or something... school wasn't easy growing up a geek in a backwater town. In my first year of uni that began to change, and in the last few years I've developed an insatiable appetite for reading.

I read a ton of books during my gap year in 2016, but with less disposable time on my hands this year reading has been relegated to the Little Things just like photography. Even so, I've been pushing myself to read at least one book each week, a goal I've somehow kept up with among everything else.

So that's the little things, all the stuff I use to fill spare time. In the next post I'll go through the Medium Things, all the stuff that are more than just hobbies.

The Circle: an unsettling window into an Orwellian nightmare

There's a lot of discussion lately about the power technology companies wield in society. Facebook and Google control about 90% of the online advertising market between them. Uber employees have the ability to track anyone who use their service. Just today, Snapchat released a feature that allows users to track each other.

It's not a new problem we're facing and Dave Eggers' novel The Circle puts an unsettling spin on the whole matter. It's a sci-fi thriller that delves into a world where a single internet company holds immeasurable power.

The story follows Mae Holland, an unsuspecting twenty-something who begins work at the Circle. It's the opportunity of a lifetime, a situation where she's eager to impress. As she becomes more and more involved at the company, the darker side of the internet, privacy and online socialising becomes clearer. 

Here's my take on the Circle, a techno-thriller about to become a movie

A number of key themes run throughout the book, beginning with the notion of a curated persona. The Circle expects their employees to be hyper social, constantly posting what you're doing, engaging with online activism and recording everything. It becomes a huge issue when Mae doesn't RSVP to a minor event, just as problematic it would be if someone didn't like an Instagram post you're tagged in. 

As the story progresses the Orwellian nature of the company begins to show, beginning with their always on, always broadcasting SeeChange cameras. The Circle wants to record everything, store everything and make sure every moment of humanity is tracked, chronicled and stored for posterity. 

The events towards the end of the book raise questions of morality, of ethics. Sure, the Circle can record every moment of someone's life, allowing people from all around the world to see, but does it mean they should?  

This book holds a mirror up to today's state of internet interaction and shows us the dangers of a world where you give too much to social media companies, where you sign your rights to privacy and self away to these places. 

While it relies on a number of straw man arguments and has characters who lack depth and nuance, those aspects provide a vehicle for you to slide into the story, imagining yourself as Mae Holland, passively observing the elimination of any privacy.

In some ways there's parallels to George Orwell's 1984 in their constant surveillance, drive to reach a certain unattainable perfection and total assimilation into the Circle's culture. The parallels get a bit too coincidental when you start seeing maxims like Secrets Are Lies, Sharing Is Caring, Privacy Is Theft emblazoned on the walls of the Circle's office. 

I guess when you're making a book like this it's impossible not to have it seem a little Orwellian. Either way, it's a fantastic read about a possible future just around the corner where a single company controls so much of our life.

The movie adaptation of the Circle, starring Emma Watson and Tom Hanks, will be released on July 13 in Australia.