The opportunity to be part of the Financial Times during these three months has been nothing short of enriching and eye opening. The staff were always concerned that I got the most out of this fellowship and that they got the most out of my time here as well.

Moving right into the newsroom on completion of a week’s technical training, I was first attached to the FT.com world desk. It was great being treated like any other member of the team, and given a chance to write stories, edit copy, and do web production work. It was fascinating being part of an international desk which functioned round the clock from offices around the world. My initial fears that I would have problems writing and editing UK news, coming from half way cross the world, were quickly erased. The team was incredibly helpful whenever I had questions and soon I was writing stories that ranged from EU laws on prisoner voting rights to the Tory party leadership race.

I was next assigned to the Companies desk, where I took on more writing assignments. That meant coming in to the office at 7am and making sure your mind was awake enough to churn out a story before the end of the morning on how various companies were performing. This was a great learning experience as I was given the opportunity to cover financial news from the transport, financial services, consumer, energy, retail, healthcare, and telecommunication sectors.

To make sure I was given the complete FT experience, I also spent time working on the FT Magazine, where I researched and wrote material for a yearly review of the news and events in 2005. Having mostly worked in newspapers prior to this attachment, I thoroughly enjoyed the change in environment while working with the magazine.

I would certainly recommend that young journalists give the Sander Theones fellowship a try. It not only exposes you to the operations of a large international newspaper but also allows you to learn from and exchange ideas with some of the best editors and journalists in the business.

For an account by Alex Fak, the 2004 prize winner, click here.