Two young, budding journalists share an office with the Abu Dhabi Week team for a few days to go behind the scenes of the production of Abu Dhabi’s leading magazine. Beth Lowe asks Jonathan Kelly about his experiences at Abu Dhabi Week
You’ve spent a week working amidst the bustling offices of Abu Dhabi Week. Was it what you expected?
When we walked through the door of the Abu Dhabi Week offices, we expected applause, confetti, hundreds of interviewers rushing to ask us questions, and be included on the front cover of next weeks issue! As it turns out that’s not the case in the offices of Abu Dhabi Week, especially with so many events in Abu Dhabi requiring recognition in the magazine. The editorial and creative staff of Abu Dhabi Week really work hard to cover all the latest events and happenings as and when they happen. Immediately we had to boil down to work and we realised the amount of effort that’s needed to produce the magazine
After having an inside look at the offices of Abu Dhabi Week, do you think you would consider working for a magazine in the future?
Whilst I am always looking for an excuse to come back to Abu Dhabi after finishing my studies, I would consider a career in journalism as all the events that need reviewing provide great writing material, not to mention I’ll have an actual excuse for going to all the concerts and happenings in Abu Dhabi! In contrast to that there’s the office life, which is not as ridiculously glamorous as often portrayed in shows like Mad Men or House but no job is easy. In this office, everyone is always working hard to get the magazine out every Thursday. Upon seeing first hand how this job is carried out and with creative writing being welcomed in this career, I would definitely consider a career in journalism.
So what’s next for an aspiring writer such as yourself and what advice would you give to someone intending to carry out work experience with a magazine?
If you were expecting to trek around the whole of Abu Dhabi asking people questions, which would be jotted down in a little note pad that you keep in your pocket, then be warned that Abu Dhabi Week is more than two dimensional when it comes to covering the stories included each week. A lot of care and finesse is carried out when it comes to creating the magazine. I was intrigued to see how the team handled the editing and production, phone calls to all kinds of agencies, layout of the pages, frequent small meetings between the editors and the amount of craft and precision that goes into creating this magazine.
Beth Lowe and Jonathan Kelly
