Reasons to do an internship at Deutsche Welle

By Roman Horbyk                    

Roman Horbyk

Deutsche Welle is  renowned as “Germany’s BBC.” It is likely that anybody who comes to study journalism in the country of Goethe and Marx will arguably consider an internship at the outlet – for many reasons. Why should you not do an internship at DW?

I was an intern with the Ukrainian service for two months, May to June 2011. I had to make an important caveat right off: at DW you should distinguish between internship and traineeship. While the latter is a more than a year-long programme targeting young foreign journalists with advanced German skills for a prospective employment, the former is more of a traditional Praktikum, a short (normally one to three months) stay with the company.

The traineeship is a once in a lifetime chance, as the selection process is tough, you would be lucky to get it. If working in Germany is one of your life goals, you will have attained it as this will open up employment opportunities for you.

The internship is but a temporary stop on your way to a journalism career in Germany. It is a good way to meet interesting and important people, get to know the internal workings of a big media institution, as well as to practice your German. But if you have any career plans in the back of your mind, you should leave them where you enter the former seat of the German Parliament which now hosts the DW headquarters in Bonn.

The upsides of the internship are many. I will start with very physical things, the things you can actually touch. First, the internship is usually paid, and can make a sensible improvement to your financial means, especially if everything you can count on is a stipend and your hands, or perhaps your hands alone. Second, it gives you a plausible entry in your CV supported by a reference from a respected media company.

But apart from that, it is a really good chance to try out the things you have never tried before. And that is not just a mix of brandy with cola I drank with a fellow intern from the Russian service next door. You can offer your topics, do research and interview people from DW’s convenient sound studios – and from my experience, nobody refuses to comment for DW. So I used this chance to interview people I could never get access to, in order make good connections for my future career. Also, the senior journalists and editors are friendly and supportive, at least in the section I worked at. So be bold.

DW newroom(source: internet)

I can only praise the facilities at DW, and, first of all, its canteen with unforgettable cafeteria food at reasonable German prices. An advantage is that it is not too hard to get this internship if you have a decent educational and professional background. I am much indebted to Prof. Hans Kleinsteuber for putting me in touch with the people at the Ukrainian service, but the other interns I met there contacted DW directly by e-mailing the respective language service secretary, and all had an impression that the institution welcomes interns.

However, what you might not like is the impossibility to continue working with DW in any form after the internship. Even freelance offer will be most likely rejected. With recent budget cuts and shrinking radio broadcasting, any staff extensions are in my opinion extremely unlikely. Moreover, if you want to do something greater than plain Internet in-house journalism, you would rather look somewhere else (this is however different with Portuguese and perhaps French services which extend broadcasting to cover developing countries better).

But all this should be compensated by a couple of wonderful months in one of the most interesting regions of Europe, with ample opportunities for travel to the nearby countries and regions. The sunny and cozy Bonn, good food, excellent transportation system and new friends will make your stay an unforgettable experience.  When I look back to a year ago, when I was taking the decision to intern for DW, I would not hesitate, in the blink of an eye, I would  do it again!