Journalists considering the launch of a freelance foreign correspondence career would do well to first read The World on a String: How to Become a Freelance Foreign Correspondent, a book by Al Goodman and John Pollack that provides recommendations from experienced journalists on a broad range of topics related to getting started in foreign correspondence. Unfortunately, the book has not been updated since 1997, so there are sections that are out of date and uninformed by the changes in the news industry and international relations since that time. Nonetheless, it is a wealth of insider information on the word of international news reporting, including advice on pitching stories, networking with other journalists, avoiding turf issues with other journalists, credentials, and strategies for making ends meet. It also offers important guidance for working in a war zone.
Another more basic, but more up-to-date overview on embarking on foreign correspondence is News University’s free online course, International Reporting Basics: What You Need to Know Before You Go, found at www.newsu.org, which was developed with the International Reporting Project and its professional journalist fellows (News University, n.d.). It covers packing and other preparation before heading out; health and safety; how to operate upon arrival, including information gathering best practices and lining up fixers and translators; and story development.
In terms of considering where to go to kick off a foreign correspondence career, personal interest, family or friend connections to an area and language skills are among considerations that might help in narrowing the literal world of options. But two key qualities of an ideal destination are a reasonable expectation for unique news opportunities, and a reasonable level of expense.
As writer Dan Baum explains in a recent series of Tweets on his start as a foreign correspondent, he and his journalist wife, Margaret Knox, had three criteria for choosing the country where they would be based: it had to be “at least a little bit newsworthy”; it couldn’t be popular with other journalists, especially Americans; and it had to offer a low cost of living, including travel expenses (Baum, 2009).
Not surprisingly, they found it difficult to find a spot on the globe that met all three qualifications, so they reasoned that, “If the place is cheap enough to live and travel in, you don’t need to sell many stories. So it doesn’t have to be super-newsworthy.” They ended up making a living, and making names for themselves, in Zimbabwe in the late 1980s.
To research potential workplaces, one of the first steps for a would-be correspondent should be following the international news as reported in the major news outlets, making note of which regions are covered well and which are not, and watching for developments that might hint at places where events or issues in the news could change a low-profile country into a news hotspot in the near future. Many online news outlets offer the option of looking at news by country or region, including the BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/) and the New York Times (www.nytimes.com/pages/world/index.html). The Times also offers an array of useful links to maps and information on the country’s economy, government, education and health statistics, demographics, weather and travel.
Beyond the news media, a wealth of easily accessed information on most, if not all, corners of the world is available on the Web. Journalists need to keep in mind that like information from other sources, the information posted on Web sites likely reflects to varying degrees the biases determined by the political or business interests of the sponsoring organization. Still, many such sites offer useful facts and analysis. For basic information on countries, try sites such as the CIA World Factbook, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/, and the U.S. State Department Web site, http://www.state.gov/.
Thinks tanks including the Council on Foreign Relations (http://www.cfr.org/), Brookings Institution (http://www.brookings.edu/World.aspx) and the International Crisis Group (http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm) offer analysis of foreign policy and current affairs, and may provide a means to get in contact with experts on a particular country or region. Worldpress.org and World Net Daily (http://www.wnd.com/) offer extensive listings of news outlets by country.
The Web sites for the Committee to Protect Journalists (http://www.cpj.org/), Reporters Without Borders (http://www.rsf.org/) and the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (http://www.ifex.org/) provide reports on press freedom for most countries. Lonely Planet offers a fair amount of free information on its Web site (http://www.lonelyplanet.com/) as well as the option to buy portions of, or whole, guide books online. And Global Voices Online, http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/, a site offering posts of more than 200 bloggers around the world, offers easy by-country searching, and the blogs, of course, provide the option to post comments and thereby interact with bloggers from your potential destination.
Don’t forget about books. It’s likely that the history, culture and politics of the area in question are presented in the form of books by scholars or memoirs by residents or visitors (including foreign correspondents). These may help in choosing a location, and will also enrich future news judgment and reporting. Watching films made by natives of the country and studying up on other elements of popular culture may help a newcomer to get their cultural bearings.
Once you’ve honed in on a potential base for your foreign correspondence, a useful next step would be drafting a budget. For most freelance correspondents, budgeting will be crucial for getting a career abroad off to a successful start. Getting to your target country, getting around once you’re there, obtaining safe but affordable housing and food, buying and maintaining equipment, obtaining medicines and vaccinations (which can be costly), securing the Internet and phone communications you’ll need, and acquiring life and health insurance—these and more are the expenses a freelance journalist will need to plan for when locating abroad.
“When I came out here, I had to invest in equipment, I had to go into debt, because I don’t come from the kind of background where someone was supporting me,” said Deborah Bonello, a multimedia journalist who moved from Britain to Argentina to become a correspondent in 2005. “You have to be prepared to put your money where your mouth is and hustle, because that’s what it’s all about.”
If you can track down other journalists, or other professionals or students, who have worked or studied recently in your target country, their intelligence regarding costs could prove invaluable.
Recently published travel guides focused on your destination country will usually include a good base of budgeting information related to short-term housing, transportation and dining.
In The World on a String (Goodman & Pollack, 1997, p. 35), the authors recommend checking with the embassy or consulate of your destination country in the country where you currently reside in pursuit of housing leads. They suggest calling the embassy and telling them that you want to study their language, or that you are taking an extended vacation rather than saying you will be seeking work in the destination country. Information officers at American, British and Canadian embassies in the destination country might also prove helpful, they say. Other potential sources of housing information and other tips include study abroad programs, students and/or professors at your university who are from the destination country, and alumni who are living in the destination country.
Craigslist, http://www.craigslist.net/, has housing classified listings in many international cities and countries, including places like Lebanon, Pakistan, Malaysia, Russia, Ecuador and plenty more. Though the service is offered in many, many places, its use/visitation seems to vary greatly. And of course you’ll want to use extreme caution and take a look at the Craigslist recommendations on avoiding scams and fraud or other crime.
The Web site Numbeo, http://www.numbeo.com/, offers some basic cost estimates in categories like food, housing, and transportation for world cities and countries, although information is volunteered by site users and is spotty. It also provides cost index tables for world cities and at the country level that might be helpful in making quick comparisons of relative expense. The Web site Man vs. Debt,
http://manvsdebt.com/cost-of-living-abroad-international-bloggers-share-expenses/, also posts the results of a solicitation for some basic costs from cities around the world. The responses come from bloggers based in those locations, and links are provided to their blogs, thus also offering more potential on-the-ground contacts.
Choosing a location where you will be able to secure a decent Internet connection will save a lot of time and hassle on the communications front. Skype allows video phone calls, or just audio, between online computers at no cost, and can also be used to place calls to phones at cost. Veteran correspondent and journalism professor Bill Gentile refers his students to the Vonage Web site for deals on international phone rates. Other telecommunications companies also offer special rate packages for international calling and Internet use for smartphones and iPhones. Even many developing countries have thriving Internet café industries, though cost and quality of connection will vary widely. In respect to Internet access, developing a relationship with a local news outlet or university might prove advantageous, and potential Internet access might be an important consideration in weighing part-time jobs to supplement income.
OpenNet Initiative, http://opennet.net/, analyzes the level of Internet filtering taking place in many countries, and its country profiles also offer a helpful look at Internet availability and cost in each nation, and by region.
Works Cited
Baum, D. (2009, September 10). African bureau Tweets. Retrieved from http://www.danbaum.com/Nine_Lives/Africa_Bureau_tweets.html
Goodman, A. & Pollack, J. (1997). The world on a string: How to become a freelance foreign correspondent. New York: Henry Holt and Company Inc.
News University. (n.d.). International reporting basics: What you need to know before you go. Retrieved from http://www.newsu.org/angel/content/irp_intreporting06/introduction/courseIntroduction.html
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