By Audrey Edwards
Journalist, The Star
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Hosted by The Washington Post

So, I made it. I survived the host newspaper which has been termed one of the toughest places to be.

It was a great learning experience tinged with some amusement on my part because of the perceived opinions some people had about me when they talked to me for the first time.

Another interesting thing was coming away realising that newspapers are, more or less, run in the same way. And with the same sense of pride of producing good stories. There may be more freedom for the newspapers in the United States, but at the end of the day it boils down to somewhat the same thing.

And that is to tell a story in the best possible way. To look at it from all angles and get it out there. Some of the journalists that I met during this fellowship also have the same kind of problems and challenges. And we are all tied together with an invisible bond, which I can only term as amazing considering the different parts of the world we all originate from.

But what is important to me is that I polished my skills as a journalist in terms of asking the RIGHT questions and developing a different style of writing articles, which is something I hope to continue doing when I get back to my home newspaper. And possibly share with my colleagues.

Actually, it is something I am already trying to do with the stories that I have been sending back, including the ones I wrote for the XVI International AIDS Conference.

And even though, someone termed the kind of stories I have been writing for The Post bordered on what interns did, this was fine by me. Since I treat everything, regardless of where I am, as a lesson or experience.

There are two matters that I am hoping to have in my newspaper.

The first is having a streamlined and coordinated internship programme. Although back home we have a constant stream of interns coming in, there is no set programme for them. Which is something that The Post has had for decades. Many journalists including Len Downie Jr., the current executive editor, were former interns.

I feel having an internship programme like The Post will help to build some loyalty and sense of pride at having worked at The Star. It is also interesting to have guest speakers talk to them every week during lunchtime. This can range from the top brass of the newspaper to experienced journalists.

It can give an inkling of what journalism is and help an intern decide whether it is the career that they want to pursue. Besides this, a streamlined internship helps to set the mode and help the interns ease into the newsroom.

Although the cost would be minimal, some problems I foresee include drawing up the programme itself, coordinating and monitoring it. And because interns come in at different times of the year, there could be difficulty in having a large enough quota to have the programme running at certain times.

Another matter is the multimedia section of the paper. One observation I have made is how similar newspapers are in terms of trying to make sense of the Internet and make use of it in order to tap into a whole new set of readers.

What I would like to propose is to include a section at the end of each article where readers can post their comments. Besides refining the search engine on the website. It would also be interesting to have webchats where journalists who have written stories of interest can “talk” to readers to further expand on their ideas.

The video section can also be worked on. We have already had this for years and it has been coming along quite fine. As one of the journalists who has been involved in doing stand-uppers and reporting for the section, I find it really interesting and hope to do more for this section of the newspaper.

What could be a problem is the lack of human resources.

I am not sure whether the ideas would be welcomed but I will try to talk to my bosses in the soonest possible time. To me, it is just improving what we already have. Hopefully, for both, I can spark something to start within a year.

As for other things that I have learned from The Post and from the fellowship is how to develop leadership and communication skills. This was mainly from the midterm review we had at The Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida.

The important thing for me, personally, is to maintain the enthusiasm for the new things that I have learned here. I hope to share it with my colleagues in a way by just telling them what I have learned and how it has benefited me.

I have come away from this fellowship not only as a better journalist but a more well-rounded person. Someone who has managed to accumulate more experiences and lessons while maintaining a sense of pride for the country that she comes from.