Grad Student/Reporter's Notebook: How to become a foreign correspondent

[Anne Shreffler]

Ok, who doesn't think the concept of backpack journalism, independence and reporting stories from new lands explored in worn hiking boots sounds romantic? Well, get over it. That's what the panelists--seasoned editors from the Washington Post, NPR and AP told a huge room packed with hopeful travelers. They emphasized numerous times that it's dirty work: crashing on hard floors, hitching rides, eating foods that may not agree with you and the hardest thing of all: verifying facts.

It's an art, according to them, to develop sources you can trust and gain access to information in a place where you probably don't speak the language and certainly miss all the customary clues of social interaction.

Then there's the pay. It's a long time coming, and that's after you've convinced a regional editor you're worth the job at all. The label you want to go for is "super stringer" according to the WashPo. That means you graduate beyond getting the paper to buy your single story and you start collecting a monthly retainer, about $1000/month.

To collect a regular fee like that, what all three editors said is, they want to get to know you. Editors would prefer to know what you're like, what you can handle, what your interests are before calling you and asking you to hop in a humanitarian aid plane to sit in the back on bags of rice as you head towards a conflict or event (think weather disaster) that needs a reporter.

To that end, they encouraged young reporters to drop in on regional or local news offices and introduce themselves. If you know you'll be in a region for a certain time, and you have good ideas on what to cover, they'd apparently love to hear from you. At least that's how it works in theory. Most likely that "be aggressive" tag the WashPo editor stuck on the end of that conversation was the hint to have thick skin and go in, knowing the editor shaking your hand might think you're nuts.

I have to jump to the end of the session here and add a question asked by Omar Chatriwala , a journalist for AlJazeera in Doha, Qatar. He addressed all three editors to ask, if their companies are committed to foreign coverage, why they "disavow their responsiblity" to employ foreign journalists and instead rely on a cheap system of stringers. The editors defended the system enough to say that there are a lot of us out there willing to work as stringers for the flexibility and the chance to get an AP, NPR or Washington Post byline. I wonder how true that is. Certainly I'd prefer employment to freestyle, but I realize budgets are thin right now. But would I prefer the byline at a big news outlet to having the big news link to MY page? This needs some thought. I thanked Omar later for asking the tough question when the rest of us were so busy writing down all the instructions on how to participate in the system.

Still interested in the job? Me too. And yes, I took a lot of notes. Turns out I don't need to give you bullet points. One (very compound) sentence will do: Know what you want, know how to get your story, know how to verify your facts, know your equipment very well, know a few editors in places where you'll be staying, know the news in the region, know how to bargain, know how to be self-reliant, know that two news companies will split your expenses if they both get a story, know about fellowships that will give you the exposure & allow you to make the contacts, know the local laws and if you can do all that, you might soon be telling the rest of the world what's going on in your little, unexplored corner.