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Topic: Mediabistro Ivan Watson foreign correspondent Q&A
| Author | Message |
| pioneer | Posted – 5/14/2008 11:07:34 PM | show profile | email poster I just read Kathryn Carlson's interview with NPR's Ivan Watson that Mediabistro ran today. Watson has some interesting stuff to say about the current state of foreign correspondence - he seems to think it's dying, and quickly. Given the state of the world, I guess it's not all that surprising - I'd just never really thought all that much about it myself. I'm curious to know what the rest of you think, especially fellow travel writers and foreign correspondents / int'l journos. Here are a few Watson quotes from the story: "The fear is that at a time where it seems we need more information about the world, there's less of it out there. Sometimes I feel like the foreign correspondent is a dying breed. Even freelancers are having a harder time making ends meet because the newspapers don't have the freelance budgets anymore. I'm by myself almost all the time now in these countries. It's lonelier; you don't have someone to bounce ideas off of or to share enthusiasm with. I feel a little bit more responsible because if I don't report something that I see in a country then I know that it will go unregistered." ~AND ANOTHER~ (The interviewer asks how competitive other foreign journos are - a fair question, because that's sort of a foreign correspondent cliche, right? But read Watson's response) -- "The correspondents are your lifeline, social network, and colleagues -- all at the same time. I'm very dear friends with some of the correspondents in the places I've been. There's so few foreign reporters in the countries I travel through that there isn't that sort of competition. If anything, sometimes when I stumble across a story that I know is important, I will often contact other reporters and let them know that there is a humanitarian disaster going on. I'll contact wire agencies. Otherwise, these stories won't be on the radar back at the news hubs in the U.S. I will make a concerted effort to try to get other people to pay attention." Wow. What do you all think? I wonder if maybe the Committee to Protect Journalists or Reporters without Borders might have statics on how many int'l journos have quit/gone home since 9/11? Those would be fascinating stats, if they actually existed anywhere ... |
| writesonwater | Posted – 5/17/2008 9:57:49 AM | show profile I'd love to see an article about that. It seems like it would be a lonely existence. |
| pioneer | Posted – 5/19/2008 7:50:08 PM | show profile Yeah, kind of. I'm a travel writer (guidebooks mostly), and I do a bit of freelancing when I'm doing assignments abroad, so I guess that makes me a sorta-freelance foreign correspondent. It definitely gets lonely as hell, especially on those really long assignments. Add to that the surrealism of travel in Third World countries, and you've got yourself a really weird (but incredibly rewarding) job and lifestyle. I'm man enough to admit it: I've experienced pathetic crying fits at least once on every single trip! |
