Hello everyone! My name is Timo Büscher, and I am currently a third-year Communication Science bachelor student at UvA.
From March to June 2024, I completed my mandatory internship as part of my bachelors programme at the German radio broadcasting station Radio Kiepenkerl. As an intern I was responsible for providing all kinds of support to the editorial staff of Radio Kiepenkerl. Hereby, I will provide you with an example of what that could entail on a daily basis, and subsequently provide you with a short reflection of my mandatory internship.
A Day in the Life of an Editorial Intern
My day at Radio Kiepenkerl started at 9 o’clock. There was no dress code at the job, allowing me to wear whatever I wanted. I began my day by greeting my colleagues and the office dogs. I then checked my Emails, and looked whether there were any new requests for me or whether there were any new developments regarding certain news stories I was responsible for. At 9:30 we usually had a conference with the entire staff of the radio broadcasting station. In this conference we reviewed the program of the last day, and then went on to plan the content of the day. For that we looked at the content of our competitors, we discussed any relevant upcoming events that we had to prepare for, or just discussed any new developments that were relevant to us. Afterwards we got to work. What work exactly needed to be done would differ depending on what was needed for the broadcasting program.
Mostly I, and the other editorial interns, were tasked to gather relevant information, either via the Internet, via telephone, or by attending relevant press conferences in person. At those press events we would then collect all the information, record original sounds to incorporate into the program and take pictures for the online website of the radio broadcasting station. Afterwards, I would then either relay the information to the editorial staff and have them write engaging news stories that were incorporated into the program, or would write these news articles myself. That meant, that I not only needed to summarize and present the relevant information in an engaging and interesting manner, but also to cut original sounds to be able to incorporate meaningful audio snippets into the radio broadcast, that would make the news more understandable and accessible to the listeners.
In addition, I was often tasked with gathering information and audio snippets for regional events. These were included into the radio program to make listeners aware of what was going on in the region. I was also tasked with publishing short reports around certain regional events on the website of Radio Kiepenkerl, and publish event lists that would provide an overview to the listeners.
By 17 o’clock I had usually finished my daily tasks and after saying goodbye to all my colleagues, my work day came to an end.
Reflection
In conclusion, I can say that my internship at Radio Kiepenkerl has proven to be an exciting and valuable experience. It has helped to prepare me for the challenges ahead after my undergraduate studies and has provided me with deep insights into the field of journalism. I am deeply grateful for having been able to gather this insight and deepen my own journalistic skills. I have been able to personally grow from this experience, and I am excited to apply this newfound knowledge in my future career.