Greetings everyone!  Hao jiu bu jian!*  If it’s been a while since my last post, then I’ll kindly blame final exams and a bit of post-semester traveling.  But long story short, I’m back and ready to “report” on my summer internship at the Shanghai Daily.

The Shanghai Daily, known online by the name SHINE, is an English-language newspaper headquartered downtown near Nanjing West Road.  The paper staffs over 70 reporters, photographers and videographers and produces online and print content seven days a week.

I started my internship with the Metro Department three weeks ago, and boy has it been a whirlwind.  Let me first back up and say that my previous journalism experience includes all of one tenth grade journalism class and a few semesters as a writer and editor for Wellesley’s GenerAsians magazine.  So imagine my heart-rate fluctuations when I got assigned my first Shanghai Daily article on the first day of my internship.  Luckily, my repressed tenth grade memories on news story structure mostly resurfaced and I submitted my draft in time for online publication the next day.  Here’s a link, which will be of particular interest if you love dragon boat races.

Since then, the past few weeks have been a mix of frenzy and lull as I work from story to story.  Some days, my editors or senior reporters will give me several pages of Chinese press coverage, which I then research and translate before drafting an English version of the story.  These assignments are always due by the end of that same day, or in one special case**, in under one hour.  Other days, I’m assigned longer-term stories, like a recent profile on pet cafes in Shanghai.  These more feature-like assignments involve leaving the office to arrange interviews, or in the case of the pet cafe story, biking across the city to different venues and ambushing pet owners for a juicy quote.  For a different feature story, I joined a photographer, videographer, and another reporter from the Daily to interview foreign doctors at an international hospital nearby.

The last type of assignment is the kind I find and create myself.  A week or so ago, I didn’t have any metro assignments, and during my search for a new story, I remembered that the first trailer for the live-action Mulan remake had just been released.  That’s not strictly speaking a metro story, but as an intern, I’d been given permission to occasionally write articles for other departments.  So, I summoned my courage, introduced myself to the Features Department Head, and pitched my idea.  To my immense relief, he said yes, and I floated away to write a piece on audience reactions to the trailer.  Part of me still can’t believe I got to write an article about Mulan, a cornerstone of my childhood, for an internship!

In sum, these past three weeks have been more exhilarating and eye-opening than I ever imagined.  By interviewing Shanghai residents and collaborating with colleagues, I’m learning more about the life of a journalist as well as the life in this city.  And as I study my colleagues’ own work and hone my writing skills, I’m also improving my Mandarin.  (Even though the Daily is an English-language newspaper, most of the research and interviews are conducted in Mandarin before translation).

I love how much responsibility I’m given in drafting stories, conducting interviews, and contributing to the article process.  Not every day is as exciting as some, but the quiet periods don’t last for long.  The stories may come and go but something’s always going on in Shanghai.

*Long time, no see!

**Credited to my Chinese name, Yin Chunmei.