My Experience as a Journalism/Publishing Intern
Coincidentally, I’m writing this post a year (to the day) since I finished my internship. Over the six month period every single day was different so to write down or even remember it all would be virtually impossible, but this brief recap will give some context to my next post and might also be interesting to you if you’re hoping to complete a journalism or publishing internship yourself.
Being a competitive equestrian, I came across Redpin whilst reading one of their regional equestrian magazines. I was fortunate enough that when I contacted the company they’d just been discussing having an intern, so within a few weeks of that first email I went for my interview and was invited to work at some equestrian events over summer, after which I’d work full time in the office until Christmas. There’s a message here for those looking for internships- seek out companies that interest you rather than just considering those with online applications, as you may get in there before other hopefuls have the chance.
In July I was back on the train for a painful four hours up to Rugby to attend the TSR summer show, which Redpin were covering. This was my first event with them and my first time working as a journalist. By the end of that day I had got to grips with the basics of a DSLR camera, filmed for promotional videos, carried out my first solo interviews, met various members of the show committee, live streamed an awards ceremony and got a taste of showing as an equestrian sport.
Then it was time to start in the office. I alternated between the teams (editorial, design and marketing), learning how they worked and helping where needed. Redpin are not just one of the UK’s leading equestrian publishers; they are equally known for their lifestyle magazines which cover the different areas of Wiltshire, so a lot of my work went towards these. My jobs included creating events diaries, finding local stories, interviewing over phone and email, updating content spreadsheets, using Indesign to create page layouts, proofreading, taking marketing calls, carrying out research for events plus writing of all kinds- book reviews, editor’s notes, local club profiles, lifestyle articles and equestrian reports (some of which were five pages long). By Christmas I had created a large portfolio of published pieces.
I also continued to attend events, including the Longines Royal International, Equifest and HOYS. Being week-long trips, these were very intense and days often started at 5am and ended with an exhausted dinner at 10pm. However, they were amazing opportunities to develop my new skills, begin networking and see some incredible equestrian competition. We also had days out to gather content for training features and my final (and most glamorous) trip was the SEIB Showing Awards in Birmingham, which is organised by Redpin and perhaps their most significant event of the season.
So here’s my conclusion a year on: the whole experience was incredibly challenging. I’d lived at uni for two years but had always been surrounded by friends and people in the same boat as me. This time I was living in a large house share of working adults, the majority of them male and the youngest of whom was eight years older than me. It was also my first time as a car owner and working full time, 95 miles from home in a place where I literally didn’t know anyone. Although I’d say I took the move in my stride, and rarely felt homesick or overwhelmed, in hindsight I’m sure the pressure of new responsibility impacted my work.
Nevertheless, the placement itself was amazing. I loved being able to write a variety of pieces and see them published and I know that, as an intern who’d never worked in the field, I was very lucky to be given so much freedom and responsibility as a writer. This was definitely an advantage of doing an internship with a smaller company; I felt like my contributions in the office were really valued. I can’t imagine a placement where I would have been given the opportunity to perform so many different roles that you would find in the industry.
My favourite part would have to be the events. Having previously visited competition venues like Hickstead for leisure, I loved having access to press (and sometimes VIP) areas and an active role in communicating with the organisers and competitors. Since I love travel and hotel stays, I really enjoyed seeing parts of England I’d never been to. In the office and on a day-to-day basis, what I found most rewarding was when people I’d interviewed or written about came back to me to express their gratitude and pride at being featured.
As I started searching for my next placement Covid 19 emerged so my focus turned back to finishing my degree, but I’ve learned lots about the journalism and publishing industries which will help me both this year at uni and afterwards when I start my career. Not all of it is positive, as you’ll discover in my next post!
Thanks for reading and see you again soon.
