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Paris option for Monash student

23 April 2008

Student Ylana Burton outside the UNESCO building in Paris

Journalism student Ylana Burton said her experience as an intern at UNESCO was priceless.

Journalism student Ylana Burton spent an anxious couple of months waiting to see if her application for an internship at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation's (UNESCO) media unit in Paris was successful.

After many emails to France enquiring about the position, she felt she had missed out, but then received an email 'out of the blue' saying she could start in less than three weeks.

UNESCO is a specialised agency of the United Nations, established in 1945 to promote international collaboration through education, science and culture.

Ms Burton learnt about the internship program following a group study excursion in July 2007 to the UK, France and Brussels for her Applied Journalism Research Project unit where she visited media organisations such as the BBC, Reuters, The Guardian and UNESCO.

During her internship Ylana was based in the Bureau of Public Information's press relations section which is responsible for the development of UNESCO's online magazine and liaising with media about program launches, delegations, meetings and reports.

"My main tasks were monitoring media coverage and editing the UNESCO Courier," Ms Burton said.

"Towards the end of my internship I started to write media advisories which was challenging because I had to convey a lot of technical information in a way that was informative but media friendly."

Ms Burton said the experience she gained at UNESCO was priceless.

"My eyes were opened to the variety of work available in the media industry," she said.

"After this experience I feel I will be more confident to enter an environment where I don't really know the specifics but will be able to apply past knowledge and pick the rest up as I go."

Applied Journalism Research Project subject adviser Andrea Baker, who supervised last year's excursion, said internships were an important aspect of a student's learning experience, giving them a head start in their career.