JoongAng Daily Internship: Learning More Than Good Journalism

March 2026

This is the second year KIS students participated in a three-day internship with JoongAng Daily newspaper. English teachers Yadira Kim, Michael Marks, and Olivia Pincince invited middle and high school students to join. Eighth graders Alice, Jimin, and Sophia report on the experience. Be sure to check out the linked articles written by KIS students too!

---

Arriving With High Expectations
When we signed up to participate in the JoongAng Internship, we all had different goals motivating us to grab the opportunity. For some, it was about specific interests in specific topics, such as the NewJeans controversy, the AI Basic Acts Legislation, Netflix’s impact on K-Culture, among other various issues present in current times. The subjects in our daily lives that truly intrigued us were large factors in influencing many of us to join this opportunity, as we wanted the chance to write articles about matters that attract us, in order to get more people informed and interested in what we like. 

Moreover, some of us also wanted the chance to work in groups of collaborate with people we weren’t familiar with. Whether with friends or new schoolmates, students shared that dividing the workload felt more time-efficient, and that they could also learn new things from each other, such as writing style, word choice, or tone.

Flow State, Research Tips
After the internship, we all reflected on varying points we each enjoyed. To name a few, there were students who mentioned flow state, which refers to the mental state of total immersion, intense focus, and enjoyment in an activity. They mentioned that in school, they don’t always have much time to focus on one singular project, but in this internship, they got the chance to engage with one project and work on it for a longer, extended period of time, which was a new experience. Others mentioned that they appreciated the opportunity to learn new skills that could be applied to their schoolwork.

The researching tips we received from the journalists were extremely helpful, especially the lessons around finding credible sources and evaluating them, which we are also learning in eighth grade social studies classes. 

All About Journalism and Newspapers 
At the JoongAng Daily internship, students met and learned from a real journalist and editor, who shared about their experiences and advice when writing a newspaper. This was meaningful as we got to receive real feedback that helped our writing get stronger and improved clarity and structure, which can also be used in schoolwork. We also learned that a newspaper article is written by multiple different professionals such as journalists, editors, photographers, graphic designers, and illustrators. 

Another valuable part of this experience was that we had the chance to work with different classmates in assigned groups. Not only did this help with collaboration, but it also helped us see other writing styles and learn how to work with them. Throughout this project, we practiced working as colleagues, making this experience feel professional.

JoongAng Daily Stories Written by KIS Students

• Netflix gives, but also takes away as K-content makers only get tiny slice of success
• Korea impresses the world at CES 2026. But China is one step ahead
• The weakening won: Impacts on consumers, producers and the limits of government response
• Korea’s 'AI Basic Act': An opportunity or an obstacle?
• ADOR at a crossroads with NewJeans after Danielle's contract termination

Now We Apply What We Learned
At the JoongAng internship, we were able to learn and experience new endeavors during those three days. Overall, we were able to master new techniques and skills that we could apply to assignments at KIS. For example, due to the fact that bias should not be present in news articles, we acquired the ability to be able to exclude bias in our work, which we can apply to our everyday school research and writing assignments. Moreover, because we had a due date for our articles, we learned to manage our time with editing and writing the newspaper to be able to submit our articles on time. We also learned how to write articles in a concise and organized way, which is suitable for our current and future academic careers. Over the course of this internship we practiced many academic skills which we now apply to our school curriculum.