Travel documents, credentials, etc.

The basic passport fee is $75, and as of October 2009, the State Department reported that passports were being processed within about four to six weeks from the time of application (U.S. Department of State, 2009), http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_1738.html. You can have your passport processing expedited for a fee of $60, and overnight delivery of the passport, which is recommended by the Postal Service for all passport books, comes with a fee of $14.85.

The World on a String recommends looking “respectable” for the passport photo to prevent hassles with border guards, and getting extra copies of the photo for use with credentials and other identification needs that may arise (Goodman & Pollack, 1997, p. 54).

News University’s “International Reporting Basics” course points out that many countries require journalists planning to work in their country to get a journalist’s visa. “Though these can be time-consuming to procure, this is the recommended way of entering a country. Being anything less than honest in your paperwork can get you into serious trouble.” (News University, n.d.).

Journalists going abroad will need to find out what the visa rules are for their destination, how long it is expected to take to obtain a visa, how best to go about obtaining it, and how long the visa allows you to stay in the country. Those considering being based in one country and traveling to others in a region may need to obtain a multiple-entry visa. The country’s embassy Web site may provide information on the requirements and procedures, and a phone call to the embassy may also do the trick.

Press credentials are handy and are sometimes necessary for foreign reporting. They may not be worth the trouble for journalists focusing on things like travel writing, but they may be important for reporting on political developments, and are a necessity in war zones, where journalists are sometimes mistaken for spies, note authors Goodman and Pollack in World on a String, who offer a variety of suggestions on how best to deal with the issue (1997, p. 57).

Other journalists who have traveled to the country might be able and willing to provide helpful insights into the visa and credentialing process. During inquiries about and application for visas and/or credentials, the embassies of some countries may seek details of your plans.

Journalist Dan Baum, in his series of Tweets on his experience as a foreign correspondent, suggests that a journalist planning to start corresponding from a foreign country write to the country’s ministry of information and ask for permission to open a freelance news bureau (Baum, 2009). Some countries may refuse, and Baum suggests just moving on to the next one. “It’s one thing to drop into a country for a week to write a story, without local press credentials. We do that all the time,” Baum said. “But to live in a country as a journalist, it really helps to be legit.”

Business cards are also recommended by the authors of World on a String (Goodman & Pollack, 1997, p. 60) and News University’s “International Reporting Basics” (News University, n.d.) as being useful for getting into events and securing interviews.

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