Interested in journalism or social issues, but also looking for something more creative? From my past 5 months at Pakhuis de Zwijger, I can recommend you to the program maker internship to gain unique experience in creative journalism.
What is the Pakhuis de Zwijger?
Pakhuis de Zwijger (PdZ) is a Dutch non-profit organization that produces over 600 events throughout a year. It grew as a platform centering around social issues, innovation, connection, creativity, and bottom-up initiatives. Most events take the form of panel discussions inviting experts from diverse backgrounds to look into the core of the problem, and above all, all programs are open to the public for free! I was working as a program maker intern and helped develop diverse events from concept brainstorming to logistic preparation of the event.
But wait… if the job is about event planning & management, how does it relate to our Communication Science major?
Unique Experience in Creative Journalism
Although the outputs are in different formats, the process of program-making closely links to what we studied as journalistic practices. What PdZ’s programs do at its core is quite similar to normative journalism – to inform society about what is happening in the world. But PdZ also distinguishes itself from others with more emphasis on creative storytelling and social justice aspects of the topic.
First, PdZ does not publish newspapers but creates panel discussions and a place for interactive dialogues. As a program maker intern, you need to think about not only how to tell a story but also how to involve the audience in your story. This can be quite challenging but also gives you more room for your creativity to shine. While I was interning, I tweaked different elements to establish good dynamics in the program including the stage setup, structure of panel discussion, role of moderators, and so on.
Another unique point of PdZ’s journalistic practices is its value-oriented approach and the strong focus on highlighting a story that is often neglected or overlooked. Just like a journalist for mass media, a program maker works as a gatekeeper of which topics to be on the program and how the topic will be framed. Different teams inside PdZ have their themes like sustainability or inclusive design, but all chosen topics need to relate to the twenty values that PdZ defined to strive towards. Moreover, PdZ cherishes diverse perspectives on a topic and prefers to give a stage to emerging voices. Whenever my team was looking for speakers, we tried to invite academic researchers, artists, people with lived experiences of the topic, and designers whose voices were not highlighted yet but could bring important insights. I really enjoyed discovering many cool underground initiatives and networking with them through program-making.
Let your curiosity drive you!
Do these works sound like what you want to do? Maybe you are still not sure what exactly this internship entails. Well, it’s really up to you! The days at PdZ are never the same; Some days, you brainstorm the idea for the program with your team and discuss it with the speakers while other days might ask you to give a workshop about inclusive design to a group of visiting university students. You can also develop your own programs during the internship with your own choice of topic and format. Works at PdZ are quite diverse and customizable to your interests. What you need is just a hunger to learn and once the internship starts, your curiosity will guide you.
I hope this blog gave a little bit of a sneak peek into what an internship at Pakhuis de Zwijger is like and hope you will have a great internship experience!