DW Trainees broaden their horizons on assignment abroad

The budding journalists of the 2023/24 trainee cohort come from seven nations to work with DW. Over 18 months of practical seminars and editorial assignments, the trainees have learned the journalistic skills necessary to produce television, online and radio news. Beyond working in both Bonn and Berlin, a two-month assignment in one of DW's foreign studios is mandatory. In addition, trainees have the choice of a month-long elective assignment, which can be at the ARD studio in Madrid or at the UN in Jamaica. The main goal of the program is for trainees to understand what makes DW's correspondent work so remarkable and to experience how colleagues from other media companies work. 

And after the traineeship? Almost all of them stay with DW – as editors, reporters or correspondents.

Katja Sterzik and John Marshall had the amazing opportunity to travel to Toole County, Montana during their internship at the DW studio in Washington, D.C. With skills gained from VJ training, they researched, filmed and edited their own climate story for DW News and Business. Their biggest challenge was adapting to Montana's harsh November climate, with its cold winds and freezing temperatures.

Marie Sina (left) spent November in London working as a producer for Newshour, BBC World Service's best-know radio show. With tight deadlines, producers there identify the world's most relevant news items and find top interview partners. Thanks to training on how to pitch and edit stories, Marie quickly became part of the team.

Thomas Gordon-Martin spent November in Kingston, Jamaica, producing a podcast series for the United Nationals Environmental Programme (UNDEP) that focused on an environmental project involving ten Caribbean islands. He also reported on the "Mount Airy Famers Group" 50 km west of Kingston that is struggling as rainfalls drop. He returned to Germany with countless new impressions.

Isabella Escobedo spent her elective at Germany's ARD studio in Madrid – her hometown – and tackled almost everything involving a camera and microphone. She had long dreamed of exploring her city as a journalist and was particularly moved while researching the exhumations of civil war victims and the reappraisal of the Franco dictatorship.

During her stint at the DW Brussels studio, Madelaine Pitt (front, left) together with a team drove to The Hague in the Netherlands to cover the move of Shell, the oil giant, to the U.K. They later headed into the city to shoot b-roll footage for the piece. Highlights included a tour of the Dutch Parliament and an interview with Tom van der Lee (center right), a Green MP.