Sonja Ernst

Freelance Journalist and Editor

various media

2005 – Present (8 years)

I have been a freelance journalist and editor since 2005 working for online, print and radio media including Deutschlandfunk, DRadio Wissen, Deutsche Welle, the Federal Agency for Civic Education, Journal Amnesty International, South Asia Magazine etc. My main field of work is politics with a special focus on Asia (above all South Asia and South Korea) as well as on urban development and slums. In addition to writing I also work on multimedia projects.

Editorial traineeship and internships

various media

1994 – 2005 (11 years)

From 2003 to 2005, I did an editorial traineeship (“Volontariat” in German, a paid journalistic training) with the online service of the website of the German Federal Agency for Civic Education (www.bpb.de). Before that and in addition to my studies, I worked as an intern and freelance journalist for different media, e.g. Spiegel Online, Tagesspiegel, taz, Freitag, n-tv, Wiesbadener Kurier etc. In 2001, I spent two months in Seoul working for the print cooperation of the International Herald Tribune and the JoongAng Ilbo, publishing articles in English.

Studies abroad

various institutes

1997 – 2001 (4 years)

In 1997, I spent four months as an intern at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies in Kuala Lumpur. In the following year, I did an 7-month internship at the Seoul National University and the Sejong Institute in Seoul partly funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). In 2000, I spent two months in Bangladesh researching the conflict in the Chittagong Hill Tracts for my master thesis, as well funded by the DAAD.