So we never did get back to do the streetscape. Wednesday was taken over by a murder in Kuraby. Madura was out covering it when I arrived at the office so I was on my own to do the Word on the Street and any other stories that came across the desk. It was a great opportunity to show the editors would I could do and how keen I was to take on anything. I did need to ask the odd silly question, such as how to file a story once I’ve written it, but everyone was helpful.

Horrific as the murder story was, I still wished I was out there covering that story. Would have been a fantastic experience on my first internship. Madura was out there all day not arriving back at the office until after 6pm, filing constant updates from her phone, talking to anyone who would talk, not having any food or toilet within miles. As tough as that might have been I’m seriously disappointed I missed it.

On Thursday Madura was back but it ended up being quite similar to the day before. Vox Pops and Police Media releases. The editor did ask me to call the organiser of the World’s Biggest Garage Sale to get some quotes and write an article which was a bit of fun because the contact was so lovely. Any opportunity to get an article in the paper I grabbed it.

Friday was punctuated by protests at a local school, and once that was over it was back to vox pops and two of them today because one was needed for the Sunday Mail. I hope it doesn’t sound like I’m complaining about the frequency of the vox pops, I am thankful to be doing them, they were quite legitimately the highlights of my time working at the Courier Mail. I did the Word on the Street everyday I was there and most people I approached were friendly and happy to have a chat. Even the people who turned me down were usually apologetic about it.

Thankfully the stress of the Pride of Australia articles seemed to lessen as the week went on. Madura was much happier and it made a big difference to the working environment. As part of her graduate placement she has to practice shorthand each week with a tutor. News Corp. expect at least 120 words per minute. Personally I’ve got a long way to go before I attain that. But I did note almost everyone used shorthand. I was interested to see how much use it got in the real world. A lot is the answer.

It was a fantastic week of seeing how journalists and journalism works in the real world. I am inspired to continue this journey and find work. I have dreamed of being a journalist for years and now it is becoming a reality.