How a gap year at a foreign newspaper could give you invaluable experience

Working on an Indian newspaper will teach you a lot about the Sub-continent - as well as about life as a journalist. Will Parkhouse shares his experiences

Published: 13 August 2007

We all know that journalism's a difficult profession to break into and most in the business will tell you that finding a foothold is about two things: luck and experience. Short of learning a bit of witchcraft or making a coat out of rabbits' paws, there's not much you can do about the luck part. But experience? Well, that's a different matter.

Gap years are a great chance to capitalise: never again will you have so much time to play with - or such an opportunity to squander. Incorporating a voluntary journalism placement into a year away means you could gain the kind of experience that doesn't just look good on paper (the sacred parchment in question being your CV); choose carefully and you could end up getting a hell of a lot more to do than you would at your local newspaper.

Working abroad, you'll also meet the local people - real ones, not just those who check you in at the hostel welcome desk or serve you breakfast. While you're at it, you get to see some incredible places and maybe even get something published.

There are a number of organisations that offer journalism placements - Madventurer, Travellers Worldwide, Changing Worlds, Global Volunteer Projects and Gap Sports, to name several - and you can work in print, radio or television. But the various outfits volunteers are sent to inevitably very in quality. That's not necessarily a bad thing- it's worth bearing in mind that the smaller magazines and papers in less well-off countries are more likely in need of skilled staff, which may make your contributions more valued.

Teaching and Projects Abroad, as well as sending volunteers to join the media in countries as diverse as Mexico, Moldova and Mongolia, offers a different angle from the others, in that it has three placements - in Bolivia, Romania and India - on magazines the organisation has set up itself, to guarantee that volunteers will receive proper attention, rather than returning home with an advanced qualification in tea-making.

"The placement gives volunteers the chance to learn about journalism, to see if they like it or not," says Erin Chalfant, managing editor of south India's Sivakasi Times, one of the magazines set up by Teaching and Projects Abroad. "They have the opportunity to learn more about the community - going out on interviews really gets them beneath the surface of the town."

But isn't it a bit strange for a group of privileged foreigners to descend on an Indian town and thrust a magazine upon its inhabitants? "We write articles that the local people care about," Chalfant explains. "We highlight social issues that are important no matter who presents them. Also, our editor and director are local people who understand the audience and what matters to this community."

Chalfant cites the current issue, which leads with a story that tackles the issue of stray dogs spreading disease in Sivakasi; there's also a profile of a local entrepreneur, a review of an autobiography telling the story of an Indian woman's struggle to escape domestic abuse and a piece comparing classical Indian music to its Western counterpart.

I worked for the magazine back in 2003, shortly after it had launched, and loved the experience. On leaving school, having no particular urge to head off round the world just for the sake of it, I went straight off to university and did an English degree. Three years later, I was keener to head to unknown climes. Well, maybe not unknown, but at least somewhere a bit less rainy. There were vague thoughts of becoming a journalist, whatever that meant, going round my head, but was that really what I wanted to do? I took the plunge - a sort of test run, if you like - and ended up spending two and a half months in Sivakasi. And instead of just dipping in to Indian culture, I got to live among the community. Chalfant is right about the placements getting volunteers under the surface of the town.

On my first day working for the Sivakasi Times, I was sent off to interview the town's station master to get the inside story on why the railway station has been closed for the previous two months. Suddenly I found myself sitting in the back of an autorickshaw with a retired New Indian Express journalist called Ram (along to translate), bumping along dusty backstreets, trying not to drop my notebook and pen. It was a terrifying initiation, but hugely exciting.

I'd never thought I'd be writing about railways - but as I realised, learning new things is one of the thrills of being a journalist. Over the next few months, I was writing and thinking about subjects I would never have considered taking on before, from reporting on a bizarre yoga festival to researching the history of Indian agricultural policy. The Sivakasi Times itself isn't exactly a gloss-fest - it's most reminiscent of the small community magazines we have at home - but the finished product is still capable of giving the tingle of satisfaction you get when you see your work in print.

It all comes at a price, of course, and a high one at that. Teaching and Projects Abroad costs range from £1,195 for a one-month placement to £1,645 for three months. This covers living expenses but not flights. But if you find a placement that genuinely makes you feel like you've accomplished something in your gap year, then it's money well spent.

During my final two weeks in Sivakasi, I began applying to journalism postgraduate courses in the UK, typing up application forms and test assignments in a crammed and overheated internet café, desperately trying to meet the deadlines. Thankfully, I did, and I got a place. Would I have been accepted without the experience I'd gained in India? Possibly; possibly not. But my gap year certainly gave me a thirst for journalism.

Teaching & Projects Abroad journalism projects: www.teaching-abroad.co.uk/projects/journalism.php

Journalism options

With all sorts of projects around the world available, you really are spoilt for choice. Here are just a few of the many on offer...

Radio journalism in Uganda

Madventurer sends aspiring radio journos to Kiira FM, a station based in the southern Ugandan town of Jinja, where they will help staff prepare material for broadcast. Madventurer also has placements at magazines in Uganda and Rwanda, as well as at one of Ghana's national newspapers. www.madventurer.com/projects-work-placements/journalism.htm

Magazine and web journalism in Mexico

"This is a serious work experience programme... The publication will expect you to contribute ideas," says the blurb for Global Volunteer Projects in Mexico. These are based at various English language magazines and websites that serve the sizable expat and tourist population of Puerto Vallarta. www.globalvolunteerprojects.org/journalism/mexico.htm

Newspaper journalism in India

Changing Worlds send volunteers to English language newspaper The Indian Express in Chennai (formerly Madras). Volunteers can expect to work as part of a busy team, writing, editing and taking photographs. www.changingworlds.co.uk/default.aspx?cid=1539

Photojournalism in South Africa

Media24 is Africa's biggest publishing group, producing a range of news and entertainment magazines. Travellers Worldwide's placement gets volunteers working as trainees, assisting staff photographers in their assignments. You could end up doing your own photo shoots. www.travellersworldwide.com/work-experience.htm

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