Internal Voices, growing from a timid toddler to a critical adolescent
Internal Voices had already died many silent deaths, yet Daniel Brumund and I were eager to (re)establish it. Despite the initial scepticism of many of our peers Daniel and I managed to form a editorial team of European Commission and UN interns only a month after we had taken up the mission to give new life to the magazine.
For roughly two months we worked together with Frederik Bordon from UNRIC to create an online magazine that would cover all sorts of international issues without becoming a mere mishmash of articles. In December 2012 Internal Voices went online. And that was when the hardest part began. In all our eagerness, we had not expected that there would be so little enthusiasm to write articles for `IV`, as we nicknamed it. Therefore, filling the magazine with articles initially came down to the editorial team. By the time I left UNRIC, which was in January 2013, we had received only 2 articles from trainees and interns outside the editorial team.
Since then however, I have seen Internal Voices flourish in both popularity and professionalism. It has grown from a timid toddler to a critical, outgoing and self-aware adolescent. The interviews with MEPs and trips to interesting places around Europe prove that Internal Voices is more than just a magazine. It forms a platform for interns and trainees from the UN and EU and a contact point for current and future decision-makers.
Whether Internal Voices grows to become a well-respected adult which will be a source of information for those working within the European Bubble or whether it will stay as it is, one thing that I am sure of, this time, Internal Voices is here to stay.
Matthijs Plijnaar
Co-founder and first Editor in Chief of Internal Voices