Interns at The Jakarta Post will be assigned to one of five desks during their four week media placement. These desks are City, Features, Sunday, Website, and International. Each has a different workload. City is the busiest with lots of reporting in the field; Sunday more entertainment-oriented feature writing. Opportunities may also exist for assignment to the Photo Desk or movement between different sections depending on demand. Students can expect to spend a lot of their time in the field. The office hours are always busiest as deadline approaches from 4-9pm. Students will have to pitch stories and do a lot of the groundwork when sourcing contacts and getting on location to cover stories and do interviews.
Location and getting there
The Jakarta Post is located in Palmerah and is close to the Senayan area (a 15 minute taxi ride). Not many Bluebird taxis go past the office so it is best to have the front desk call one or alternatively ask security to flag one down. Most students choose to live nearby in the Benhil area and commute by ojek or taxi (Rp. 10-15,000). A lot of work can be done from home for the Features and Sunday desks.
Specific Requirements
Students must have a laptop. While there are news desks available in the mornings when the offices are empty, by 4pm you will struggle for access to a computer.
Sound recording equipment is also essential because you will spend a lot of time in the field interviewing people.
Work hours
Work hours will depend largely on your assigned desk. The Jakarta Post is quiet in the mornings as it runs on a midday to midnight schedule in accordance with the printing cycle. Reporters are busy in the field during the morning and midday hours. The newsroom picks up pace from 2pm onwards with copy submitted around 6pm. As one student said, 'the earlier you get your copy in, the more the editors will love you.' Features and Sunday edition writers have more freedom to arrange their hours (or work from home) as deadlines for these sections are a bit more relaxed.
Student stories
2009
Priyanka Rajan is an undergraduate student from University of Technology Sydney, who did her internship at the Jakarta Post. Read her stories.
Thom Smyth is an undergraduate student at Edith Cowan University. His work placement was the Jakarta Post. Read his stories.
David Stone-Resneck is a postgraduate student at RMIT. His work placement was at the Jakarta Post. Read his stories.
Kyle Taylor is an undergraduate student at the University of Technology Sydney. His work placement was at the Jakarta Post. Read his stories.
2008
Anne Lin is an undergraduate student from University of Technology Sydney, and editor of the student magazine there. She had her work placement at The Jakarta Post, and took lots of photos in Jakarta, some of which are featured on these pages. Read her stories.
Angela Dewan's (a student from the University of Technology Sydney) internship was with the Jakarta Post, where, on the features desk where she was able to cover a range of topics from e-waste to sex education and profiles. After the JPP she got a job at the Jakarta Post as a copy editor.
Charlotte is from the University of Technology Sydney. Her internship at the Jakarta Post coincided with the death of former President Soeharto, and although she was not working on that day, she came into work to volunteer to do anything she could to help. Charlotte was one of the few journalists invited into the Soeharto family home where the former President's body was laid out, as dignitaries, family and friends paid their respects.
Ella Davison (University of Technology Sydney) undertook a four-week, work-experience placement with the Jakarta Post newspaper. The Jakarta Post has a well organized internship system, during which students are rotated between desks. Ella initially chose the World Desk, which gave her an opportunity to learn about the selection and editing of incoming foreign news and to participate in sub-editing. It also gave her a number of good opportunities to report on world issues while in Jakarta, such as an important conference on the Iran's nuclear program, the arrival of the Indian navy, and the local angle on US Super Tuesday. Read her thoughts on keeping healthy in Jakarta.
Intern Duties