Weighing a future as a foreign correspondent

Deciding to pursue a career as a foreign correspondent is, like many key life decisions, a bit of a gamble.

Many journalists who decide to pursue this path will at least start out as, and may have full careers as, freelancers, due in part to the paucity of staff foreign correspondent posts available.

Freelancing allows journalists more autonomy in choosing location and assignments, but the marketplace puts limits on that autonomy, and makes strategic planning crucial for a successful freelancer. It can be a lonely, low-income, competitive and high-risk existence, and should not be undertaken lightly. But that does not mean it should not be undertaken.

Bill Gentile, a veteran foreign correspondent and professor at American University, certainly encourages his students to analyze the possibilities of freelance foreign correspondence. A practitioner of “backpack journalism” whose documentaries have appeared on PBS’ “NOW,” Gentile says that he is optimistic about the field of foreign correspondence, despite the widespread downsizing in the industry and the shuttering of foreign bureaus by many news organizations (B. Gentile, personal communication, September 24, 2009).

“I also feel very adamant about the fact that young people who really want to make a difference and be engaged in the world can use this craft and should use this craft as a means to do so,” he said. “It means you may have to be more diversified, though. You may have to go to places like China and you may have to work at an English-language newspaper to sustain yourself and do this stuff on a freelance basis on the side.”

John Schidlovsky, founding director of the International Reporting Project and a former foreign correspondent, says that while the changes in media have left fewer staff jobs with big media organizations, freelancing remains a viable option for aspiring foreign correspondents (J. Schidlovsky, personal communication, September 22, 2009). “If you’re interested in international media and you’re adventurous, just go off somewhere overseas and try that, try carving out a niche. You could go either to a place where there are lots of journalists because there’s big story, but then you’ve got lots of competition,” he said, “or, go someplace where no one is and sort of stake that out, carve that out as your territory.”

Schidlovsky said if he were starting out now, he might choose to locate in Nigeria—Africa’s most populous country and one of the world’s top oil producers. “Nobody is covering that country,” he said. Generally, he recommends being flexible, being adaptable, learning languages, and learning as much as possible about international issues that are hot now, such as the global economy and the environment.

The freedom to focus on stories that you want to do is one of the benefits of freelancing, said Stephan Faris, a freelance correspondent and author of the book Forecast: The Suprising—and Immediate—Consequences of Climate Change. “This is of course constrained by the fact you have to sell them, but so far I've been able to do things I find positive and interesting,” said Faris in an interview via e-mail from Rome, where he is now based (S. Faris, personal communication, September 30, 2009). He has reported for Time Magazine, Fortune Magazine, the Atlantic Monthly and Salon.com.

Except for a brief stint at a small daily newspaper in New Jersey, Faris has spent all of his journalism career as a freelancer. He has been offered staff positions, Faris said, but so far none have been appealing enough to lure him away from what he sees as the advantages of freelancing. Subjects he has tackled include the wars in Iraq and Liberia, the genocide trials in Rwanda, the rise of Islamists in Somalia and Internet censorship in China. He also covers climate change for GlobalPost.

“Also, since a publication only has to invest in you for one article, they're more likely to take your work than they would be to hire you, which allows you to often punch above your weight, so to speak,” he said.

“Finally, I think an important advantage for me is knowing that every story I write is important enough for somebody to make a decision on. Since each story has to sell on its merits, you're never doing busywork,” he said.

One major disadvantage of freelancing, of course, is that you’re on your own. No regular paycheck, no company-subsidized health or life insurance, no one to provide equipment or cover expenses. Journalists who want to succeed as freelance correspondents will need to plan where they’re going, how they’ll operate in their new environment and make a living, and how they’ll do so without taking undue health or security risks.

“If that’s really what you want to do, you just need to go out there and get on with it,” said Deborah Bonello, a veteran freelance correspondent who now works on contract for the Los Angeles Times in Mexico City (D. Bonello, personal communication, September 17, 2009). “And you have to be prepared to hustle,” she said.