We’re now entering the point in the semester when in many ways, your time outside of the classroom reporting is more valuable than time inside of the classroom. Next week is Thanksgiving and in my experience, when I try to hold class early in the week, a lot of students don’t show up; so I’m giving you next class off to work on reporting your Story #2. However, I will be available that day to meet with anyone who would like to schedule a one-on-one Zoom call or in-person meeting with me. Please reach out to me by email to request a meeting that day.
Monday, Nov. 28 and Tuesday, Nov. 29:
When we come back from Thanksgiving weekend, instead of regular class, I’m instead going to hold individual meetings with everyone on Monday, Nov. 28 and Tuesday, Nov. 29. You can sign up for a time slot here.
During that meeting, we can check in on your story progress, we can discuss what the story still needs in terms of voices/sources, and/or I can take a look at whatever you have so far and make suggestions on structure or writing.
Thursday, Dec. 1:
Your rough drafts of Story #2 are due by class time on Dec. 1. We will workshop them in class that day.
Tuesday, Dec. 13:
Your final drafts are due by class time on Dec. 13, our last day of class.
A Quick Guide to the Practical Realities of Freelancing
When we think about being a journalist who reports internationally, we often focus on the technical and practical skills that the job requires: how to craft a story, how to shoot photos or record audio or video, how to handle the logistics and get around safely, etc. But I want to talk a little today about the less-glamorous side of the job, which for a majority of international correspondents, means essentially running your own business as a freelancer.
How do expenses work?
Typically, you have to pay for things like flights and fixer fees yourself in advance, and then file for reimbursement when you file your invoice.
How do you send an invoice?
How do you know how much to charge?
A lot of news organizations have a flat rate they pay everyone that is standard, like $600 per story plus $100 if you also filed photos, or a $400 day rate for videographers, for example. But if you’re ever in the position of being asked how much you charge, it can be paralyzing if you don’t know what to ask for. A lot of inexperienced journalists ask for too little. The best advice I can give is to consult with freelance friends and colleagues and ask their advice about what’s a good range to shoot for.
Having a portfolio website is one of the best ways to make it clear to editors that you take yourself seriously, and that you have a baseline of professionalism in this industry. If you don’t have a website yet, think about making one.
Don’t be afraid of a little self-promotion
Think about branding yourself. If you’re interested in launching yourself as a photojournalist specifically, make sure you have an Instagram that is full of well-curated photos of your work, updated regularly. If political commentary and analysis is more your speed, Twitter might be the best social media platform for you; go on there and contribute to the conversation. Don’t be shy.
Lets take a look at how elections are covered around the world.
For starters, let’s take a look at one of the common themes we often see when it comes to election coverage here in the US.
“Horse Race Coverage”
This refers to political journalism around elections that resembles coverage of horse races because of the focus on polling data, public perception, and who is in the lead and who is behind, rather than the candidates’ policies.
What are some examples of horse race coverage in recent elections? Who are some of the biggest players in this type of journalism? Might it sometimes impact election results directly? How? Is this a problem to you?
Is detrimental to female political candidates, who tend to focus on policy issues to build credibility.
Gives an advantage to novel and unusual candidates.
Shortchanges third-party candidates, who often are overlooked or ignored because their chances of winning are slim compared to Republican and Democratic candidates.
“The media’s tendency to allocate coverage based on winning and losing affects voters’ decisions,” Patterson writes. “The press’s attention to early winners, and its tendency to afford them more positive coverage than their competitors, is not designed to boost their chances, but that’s a predictable effect.
International Elections
So when we turn our lens to reporting on other countries’ elections, horse-race coverage can certainly play a part in that, but it tends to skew toward other things, depending on the part of the world and the state of the nation in question: Are the elections fair and the results credible? Is there potential for instability, depending on the results?
Sometimes the tone of this type of coverage can perpetuate harmful narratives, as it the United States is above this sort of thing. The following satirical article isn’t about election coverage, but the tone of it could easily be a riff on what it might sound like if other countries reported on US elections the same way we have historically reported on theirs.
Before setting out on any assignment in a conflict zone or any dangerous environment, journalists should have basic skills to care for themselves or injured colleagues.
We encourage all journalists to complete a recognized news industry first aid course, to carry a suitable first-aid kit and continue their training to stay up-to-date on standards of care and safety both physical and psychological. Before undertaking an assignment in such zones, journalists should seek adequate medical insurance covering them in a conflict zone or area of infectious disease.
Journalists in active war zones should be aware of the need and importance of having protective ballistic clothing, including armoured jackets and helmets. Journalists operating in a conflict zone or dangerous environment should endeavor to complete an industry-recognized hostile environment course.
Journalists should work with colleagues on the ground and with news organizations to complete a careful risk assessment before traveling to any hostile or dangerous environment and measure the journalistic value of an assignment against the risks.
On assignment, journalists should plan and prepare in detail how they will operate including identifying routes, transport, contacts and a communications strategy with daily check-in routines with a colleague in the region or their editor. Whenever practical, journalists should take appropriate precautions to secure mobile and Internet communications from intrusion and tracking.
Journalists should work closely with their news organizations, the organization that has commissioned them, or their colleagues in the industry if acting independently, to understand the risks of any specific assignment. In doing so, they should seek and take into account the safety information and travel advice of professional colleagues, local contacts, embassies and security personnel. And, likewise, they should share safety information with colleagues to help prevent them harm.
Journalists should leave next of kin details with news organizations, ensuring that these named contacts have clear instructions and action plans in the case of injury, kidnap or death in the field.
FOR NEWS ORGANIZATIONS MAKING ASSIGNMENTS IN DANGEROUS PLACES:
Editors and news organisations recognize that local journalists and freelancers, including photographers and videographers, play an increasingly vital role in international coverage, particularly on dangerous stories.
Editors and news organizations should show the same concern for the welfare of local journalists and freelancers that they do for staffers.
News organizations and editors should endeavor to treat journalists and freelancers they use on a regular basis in a similar manner to the way they treat staffers when it comes to issues of safety training, first aid and other safety equipment, and responsibility in the event of injury or kidnap.
Editors and news organizations should be aware of, and factor in, the additional costs of training, insurance and safety equipment in war zones. They should clearly delineate before an assignment what a freelancer will be paid and what expenses will be covered.
Editors and news organizations should recognize the importance of prompt payment for freelancers. When setting assignments, news organizations should endeavor to provide agreed upon expenses in advance, or as soon as possible on completion of work, and pay for work done in as timely a manner as possible.
Editors and news organizations should ensure that all freelance journalists are given fair recognition in bylines and credits for the work they do both at the time the work is published or broadcast and if it is later submitted for awards, unless the news organization and the freelancer agree that crediting the journalist can compromise the safety of the freelancer and/or the freelancer’s family.
News organizations should not make an assignment with a freelancer in a conflict zone or dangerous environment unless the news organization is prepared to take the same responsibility for the freelancer’s wellbeing in the event of kidnap or injury as it would a staffer. News organizations have a moral responsibility to support journalists to whom they give assignments in dangerous areas, as long as the freelancer complies with the rules and instructions of the news organization.
How to complete a risk assessment and corresponding action plan
Scenario #1:
It’s April 2015. You’re a Mumbai-based staff photographer for a wire agency hearing early reports of catastrophic damage and major loss of life after an earthquake struck northwest of central Kathmandu. You call your editor, who tells you to get there as soon as possible.
What are 1) some of the risks here, and 2) how will you mitigate them?
Put together an action plan: How will you get in? Are airports open? How will you move around once you get there? What information/contacts will you require before you arrive? Where will you stay? How will your editor know you’re safe? What do you need to bring with you? How much is all of this likely to cost? Once you’re there, how will you get back out again?
To clarify: Risks don’t don’t always necessarily mean risks to your physical safety. They can also refer to financial risk, risk to access, risk to your sources, risk of arrest or deportation, risk that your presence could make a bad situation worse, risk that once in you won’t be able to get out, risk that communications will be down and you won’t be able to file your material, risk to your gear, etc.
It’s 2017, during the uneasy span (August-October) between a Kenyan presidential election surrounded by rumors of fraud, a Supreme Court decision annulling the results, and a re-run that would lose all legitimacy due to an opposition boycott. Protests have started up in the Nairobi slums of Kibera and Mathare and in the western city of Kisumu. Police are cracking down violently; there are reports of live bullets and civilian deaths, and of skirmishes between supporters of opposition leader Raila Odinga and incumbent president Uhuru Kenyatta. You’re a Nairobi-based freelancer and you’ve scored an assignment to cover the ongoing story for VICE News.
Put together a risk assessment and action plan. Ask yourself the same kinds of questions as above. What are the unique risks of this story?
Pitches for your second and final story of the semester will be due Tuesday, Nov. 1. This story will be a little longer than the first one; there’s scope for it to be more of a feature piece. 1200 words.
Quick Debrief/Discussion:
“Which Way Is the Front Line From Here?”
What were your impressions and takeaways from the film? For reference, here are the questions I gave you to think about:
When you’re a journalist, you will very likely find yourself in possession of information that other people want. Digital security comes down to protecting yourself and protecting your sources.
Messaging
If you’re communicating with a source about a sensitive story, the top-recommended app by security experts is Signal. It’s free, open-source, and peer-reviewed.
Personal Information (Phone, Laptop, and Social Media)
Make sure you take a look at your Facebook page and other social media accounts to see what information about you is public. It’s probably more than you realize. Be aware that enabling location services and posting live updates can clue people in to your whereabouts. And depending on your current level of risk in your reporting, some of the personal information you have out there or on your person might be used against you. When Jim Foley was kidnapped, for instance, his captors found a photo on his laptop that showed his brother in a military uniform and singled him out for harsher treatment.
Keep your phone updated.
Make sure your phone and laptop are password protected.
If arrest is a concern of yours, it might be advisable to disable the thumbprint verification on your phone for the duration of the assignment.
Change your SMS settings so that the text isn’t visible in notifications until the phone is unlocked.
Always sign out of important accounts after using them in public places.
Beware of free public wifi networks.
Disable Siri from the lockscreen by switching off “Access When Locked”
Be wary of leaving laptops in hotel rooms where they could be tampered with in your absence.
International Travel
If you’re going to be traveling internationally, remember to take extra steps to protect your contacts and any other sensitive information. It’s alarmingly easy for border agents to confiscate and search your things, and you don’t have much recourse if they decide to do so. If you’re already inside the United States, they need a warrant, but at the border, your rights are significantly curtailed in this respect. They don’t even need cause, and there have been cases where people have been denied entry for refusing to hand over their passwords. American citizens can’t be deported for refusing to do so; if you stand firm but calm, you may be detained and the devices tampered with, but you should eventually get home.
“During the interrogation, CBP officers requested Ou unlock his mobile phones so they could search them, he said. After he refused — explaining that he had an ethical obligation to protect his reporting sources — the agents took the devices away, he said. When the phones were returned hours later, it was clear that someone had tampered with the SIM cards and potentially made copies of data on the devices, he said. Because the phones were encrypted, Ou is not sure how much — if any — information they were able to access.”
WSJ reporter and US citizen Maria Abi-Bahib wrote a Facebook post about a similar experience.
Another customs agent joined her at that point and they grilled me for an hour – asking me about the years I lived in the US, when I moved to Beirut and why, who lives at my in-laws’ house in LA and numbers for the groom and bride whose wedding I was attending. I answered jovially, because I’ve had enough high-level security experiences to know that being annoyed or hostile will work against you.
But then she asked me for my two cellphones. I asked her what she wanted from them.
“We want to collect information” she said, refusing to specify what kind.
And that is where I drew the line — I told her I had First Amendment rights as a journalist she couldn’t violate and I was protected under. I explained I had to protect my sources of information.
“Did you just admit you collect information for foreign governments?” she asked, her tone turning hostile.
“No, that’s exactly not what I just said,” I replied, explaining again why I would not hand over my phones.
She handed me a DHS document, a photo of which I’ve attached. It basically says the US government has the right to seize my phones and my rights as a US citizen (or citizen of the world) go out the window. This law applies at any point of entry into the US, whether naval, air or land and extends for 100 miles into the US from the border or formal points of entry. So, all of NY city for instance. If they forgot to ask you at JFK airport for your phones, but you’re having a drink in Manhattan the next day, you technically fall under this authority. And because they are acting under the pretense to protect the US from terrorism, you have to give it up.
So I called their bluff.
“You’ll have to call The Wall Street Journal’s lawyers, as those phones are the property of WSJ,” I told her, calmly.
She accused me of hindering the investigation – a dangerous accusation as at that point, they can use force. I put my hands up and said I’d done nothing but be cooperative, but when it comes to my phones, she would have to call WSJ’s lawyers.
She said she had to speak to her supervisor about my lack of cooperation and would return. I was left with the second DHS officer who’d been there since we left the baggage claim area.
The female officer returned 30 minutes later and said I was free to go.
If you have extremely sensitive information on your laptop or phone and there is a fair chance that you’ll be stopped at the airport because of your recent travel destinations, consider scrubbing it of those contacts, traveling with a separate phone entirely, or sending it to yourself by courier.
Switch off your devices before you go through immigration. “Hard drive encryption tools only offer full protection when a computer is fully powered down. If you use TouchID, your iPhone is safest when it’s turned off, too, since it requires a PIN rather than a fingerprint when first booted, resolving any ambiguity about whether border officials can compel you to unlock the device with a finger instead of a PIN—a real concern given that green card holders are required to offer their fingerprints with every border crossing.” –Wired
Email
Use PGP Email Encryption. (PGP literally stands for “Pretty Good Privacy.”)
Basically, it “scrambles your email until it is downloaded and decrypted with a personal key, so that even if someone spies on the content of your Gmail account or whatever they won’t be able to read your email.”
In a detail that will become journalism school legend forever, probably, Guardian columnist Glenn Greenwald says he almost missed out on NSA stories because he didn’t have the time to set up PGP. Snowden anonymously sent Greenwald a bunch of emails, and even a step-by-step guide to setting it up, but Greenwald put it off. “It’s really annoying and complicated, the encryption software,” he told the Times. “He kept harassing me, but at some point he just got frustrated, so he went to Laura.”
Please block out in your schedules Thursday, October 27 for our field trip to the United Nations for the noon press briefing. This will take the place of our evening class that day. We’ll arrive at 11:30 am to go through security. The press officer I spoke to is also working on arranging a meeting for us with Stephane Dujarric, the Spokesman for the Secretary-General. TBD if that will work out with scheduling, but we should be done by 1 or 1:30 depending on whether Dujarric speaks with us.
I’ll need a definitive headcount for the field trip, so please email me to confirm whether you are coming, and let me know exactly how your name appears on your ID because I need to provide a list of names in advance and they will be checking your names at security.
As you watch, answer the following questions briefly (50-100 words each) and put the answers into a blog post. We’ll discuss the film and your thoughts on it next week. (Since next class we’ll be looking at your rough drafts.)
Thinking back to our discussion on the ethics of foreign reporting, what do you think of Hetherington’s approach to his work?
What do you think of the types of stories he is drawn to in the film, and how he chooses to tell them?
What do you think of how he handled considerations of safety/security in the course of his reporting?
Any takeaways regarding the making of this film, and how the decision to tell this particular story fits within the larger history/context of international reporting?
Reminder: Rough drafts of your stories are due by class time on Thursday! We’ll workshop them together in class.
(Imagine if CUNY was trying to be in charge of world peace.)
Members include nearly every nation in the world: 193 out of 196 (or 195 depending on whether you count Taiwan). When it was founded, they wrote the UN charter (sort of like its constitution) and a universal declaration of human rights.
The United Nations is made up of a number of main bodies:
General Assembly: This is the chief policymaking branch, and it plays a significant role in codification of international law. It’s the deliberative body of the UN, in which all member states have one vote. Issues on which the General Assembly deliberates and makes recommendations include matters of peace and security, budgetary matters, and nearly anything else within the scope of the UN Charter. Major questions require a two-thirds majority, and minor questions are resolved by a simple majority. It meets to go into session every year in the fall.
Security Council: This department is charged with maintaining international peace and security. Its main functions include hearing complaints, recommending peaceful solutions, and working to end conflict in areas where hostilities have already erupted through such means as cease-fire directives and UN peacekeeping forces. It is in charge of sending “peacekeepers,” also known as blue helmets, who are only supposed to use force in self-defense and who have been known to cause some problems of their own.
“UN peacekeeping operations are not an enforcement tool. However, they may use force at the tactical level, with the authorization of the Security Council, if acting in self-defense and defense of the mandate.
In certain volatile situations, the Security Council has given UN peacekeeping operations ‘robust’ mandates authorizing them to ‘use all necessary means’ to deter forceful attempts to disrupt the political process, protect civilians under imminent threat of physical attack, and/or assist the national authorities in maintaining law and order.”
Ongoing peacekeeping missions are a cocktail of acronyms like MONUSCO (DR Congo), UNSMIS (Syria), and UNMISS (South Sudan) and a complete list can be found here. (MONUSCO is the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Since 1999, the UN has been trying to stabilize the eastern region of the DR Congo. MONUSCO has nearly 20,000 soldiers and an annual budget of $1.4 billion.)
You will sometimes find yourself dealing with peacekeeping operations that aren’t directly run by the UN, like AMISOM, the African Union Mission to Somalia, a peacekeeping mission operated by the AU in Somalia with the UN’s approval (not to be confused with UNSOS, the United Nations Support Office in Somalia).
The permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, also known as the Permanent Five, Big Five, or P5, include the following five governments: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The members represent the five great powers considered the victors of World War II. They’re the only ones with veto power, which ruffles some feathers. Some people want to shake things up on the Security Council.
The ten non-permanent members are elected for two-year terms by the General Assembly. At the moment, these include:
Albania (2023) Brazil (2023) Gabon (2023) Ghana (2023) India (2022) Ireland (2022) Kenya (2022) Mexico (2022) Norway (2022) United Arab Emirates (2023)
The year refers to the end of their term.
Non-Council Member States are members of the United Nations but not of the Security Council and may participate, without a vote, in its discussions when the Council considers that country’s interests are affected.
Economic and Social Council: This body discusses international economic and social issues, identifies issues hindering the standard of living in various regions of the world, and makes policy recommendations to alleviate those issues.
The Hague: This city in the Netherlands is one of the major cities hosting the United Nations, along with New York City, Geneva, Vienna, Rome, and Nairobi. It is also home to the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court. The ICJ is the judicial body of the UN. It includes 15 elected judges and settles cases according to International Law. The ICC is an international tribunal that has the jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. The Philippines recently left the ICC in protest over its opening of an investigation into Duterte’s drug war.
Secretariat: This body is the administrative branch of the UN and is charged with administering the policies and programs of the other bodies. The Secretary General is the top official in the Secretariat. The current secretary-general is António Guterres, a Portuguese diplomat who was previously the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees between 2005 and 2015.
Aside from the main bodies, the UN has 15 specialized agencies. These are autonomous organizations working with the UN and each other and governments through the Economic and Social Council as well as at the inter-secretariat level.
These agencies include:
UNOCHA: The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is the part of the United Nations Secretariat responsible for bringing together humanitarian actors to ensure a coherent response to emergencies. OCHA also ensures there is a framework within which each actor can contribute to the overall response effort.
UNHCR: The United Nations High Commission on Refugees
The World Bank: An international financial institution that provides loans to countries for capital programs.
(I’m often asked the difference between the The World Bank and the IMF: The World Bank’s mission is to work with developing countries to reduce poverty and increase shared prosperity, while the International Monetary Fund serves to stabilize the international monetary system and acts as a monitor of the world’s currencies.)
UNESCO: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
As an international journalist, it’s good to be familiar with how the UN works for a number of reasons. Its affiliated agencies are often extremely helpful for journalists, especially freelancers, but you have to be very careful about how accepting assistance from these agencies could affect your objectivity as a journalist.
Aside from that, the UN itself can be a bountiful source of stories, and it’s good to examine it with a critical eye to hold it to account. No matter how noble its stated mission, it is a massive bureaucratic entity run by fallible people. It’s prone to corruption and is known for fostering a culture of impunity as well as mismanaging funds. (The UN has a LOT of money—member states pay dues—and wherever large amounts of money can be found, you can always find people being tempted to do bad things. Good rule of thumb for any humanitarian crisis situation: follow the money.)
“Six years ago, I became an assistant secretary general, posted to the headquarters in New York. I was no stranger to red tape, but I was unprepared for the blur of Orwellian admonitions and Carrollian logic that govern the place. If you locked a team of evil geniuses in a laboratory, they could not design a bureaucracy so maddeningly complex, requiring so much effort but in the end incapable of delivering the intended result. The system is a black hole into which disappear countless tax dollars and human aspirations, never to be seen again.”
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are eight international development goals for the year 2015 that were established by the United Nations in 2000. All 189 United Nations member states at that time, and at least 22 international organizations, committed to help achieve the following Millennium Development Goals by 2015:
To eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
To achieve universal primary education
To promote gender equality and empower women
To reduce child mortality
To improve maternal health
To combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
To ensure environmental sustainability
To develop a global partnership for development
The MDGs have since been replaced by the Sustainable Development Goals. This sort of thing can provide excellent news pegs.
Not to be confused with UN agencies, there are also a number of high-profile nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) out there doing similar kinds of work with similar aims, but they’re not affiliated with the UN. These also merit scrutiny. Aid business is good business.
The rough draft of your first story of the semester will be due on Thursday, October 13. We will workshop them in class.
The final draft will be due Thursday, Oct. 20.
Check-In
What are some big international stories happening around the world right now?
What happens when major international news breaks?
If it’s a big enough story, it will have a huge impact on what we call the “news cycle.” Journalists from all over the city, country, and the world will mobilize and converge on the scene. Depending on the nature of the news—natural disaster, war, mass shooting event—there may be wall-to-wall coverage for a few days, or sometimes even weeks or months/years, like in the case of the pandemic, though when a story drags on that long it will go through many different cycles and waves.
How does coverage evolve over time?
With breaking news, we often speak in terms of “day one” stories and “day two” stories (and beyond). The day one coverage, as the news is super fresh and the details are still emerging, generally revolves around trying to confirm basic facts and get the overall who/what/where/when/why details confirmed. Often the Associated Press and other news wires will publish essentially the equivalent of a breaking news alert in story form as soon as they confirm something has happened, with a note that this is a developing story and readers should check back soon for more.
At this point—which sometimes takes place within minutes of the event—there usually is no confirmation of the number of casualties or other numbers/details, as that usually takes time to know for certain. Typically within a matter of hours, another story will go out that contains a more complete picture of what happened.
Over the next couple of days, you will typically start to see more stories that attempt to delve beyond what happened to why it happened: explainer pieces, political analysis, who was affected, and what this means going forward. Often obituaries and tributes to victims will be published, if relevant. Editorials might be published, or segments will air on the major cable news networks that pit people with different “takes” against one another.
As weeks/months/years pass, most stories will recede into the background at least somewhat. Coverage may shift away from breaking news about the catastrophe/event itself and toward the ripple effects/rebuilding process.
How do news orgs approach covering these big international stories?
Depending on the story, the first day or so, the coverage will by necessity be provided by journalists who were already based there (and photos/visuals sometimes by citizen journalists and local witnesses). Editors of major international outlets will then scramble to send more reporters, often their star reporters, to provide more coverage as the story develops.
In-Class Discussion: Ukraine
Let’s take a look at a major international story and find examples that show how it has been covered, by whom, in what different forms of media, and how the story has evolved over time.
Quick check-in about beat memos, which are due today. Reminder that your pitch for your first story of the semester is due by class time on Thursday.
Logistics of International Reporting
Last week, we talked a lot about the state of press freedom around the world, and about how it should figure into your planning process as a reporter working abroad. That’s just one element you need to plan for. Reporting trips often require a lot of coordination ahead of time: booking flights, booking hotels, hiring fixers, hiring translators, renting a vehicle, securing the right visa, etc.
Accreditation
Get accredited if it is advisable/feasible to do so.
Things to consider:
Expense
Timeframe
Whether or not you’re trying to keep a low profile
Potential consequences for not being accredited (without it, if arrested, some governments may take the opportunity to accuse you of espionage, for instance, or of being a combatant)
Every country has different requirements for visiting journalists. Some will have a clear-cut journalist visa that you have to apply for. Some will require media accreditation only if you’ll be filming, or only in certain regions, or only for certain kinds of stories. Some will charge you for bringing in a lot of camera equipment. In some places, the only viable option is to go as a tourist or sneak over the border. As ever, you’re going to want to rely on your network to advise on the best option for you.
Protect your data and your sources. (We will have an entire class devoted to digital security later in the semester.)
Make sure your phones, laptops, tablets, etc. are password-protected.
Communicate with apps like Signal if you’re discussing anything sensitive.
Be careful what you share on social media.
Travel “naked” if you have a lot of sensitive sources on your phone. No matter how good your encryption, if a foreign government is determined to seize your phone, they’re probably going to do it.
Remember that it’s NOT JUST YOU you’re protecting here. Especially if you’re American, your local sources and fixers will often be far more at risk than you will.
Working With Fixers
“Fixer” is a term that can mean a lot of things. A good fixer is someone who Makes It Happen. They have a good sense of what a journalist’s needs are for a story; they know the right people and can facilitate introductions; they know their way around; they generally deserve a lot of the credit for a successful assignment. Often they are journalists themselves.
Sometimes your fixer will pull double or triple duty as driver/translator; other times you will need to hire someone else to fill these roles. Depending on the story, you might be able to get away with not hiring a fixer at all because a contact at a local NGO or agency is willing to introduce you to sources or give you a lift.
The golden rule of working with fixers is this: Don’t Be An Asshole.
Remember that you are going home after the day or week you’ve spent in their country and company, and that they will continue to live there. Remember that any stupid decision you make doesn’t just endanger you; it endangers them, and it likely endangers them many times over. Local journalists tend to be killed and imprisoned at a much higher rate than foreign correspondents.
And pay them a fair rate. Find out what the going rate is (it can be anywhere from $50 to $400 a day depending on where you are) and clear it with whoever’s handling your expenses (and advocate on behalf of your fixer if you’re told it’s too high).
What we found is that the dynamic of a deep-pocketed foreign reporter hiring a local journalist in an often-poorer country, to do his or her bidding, has inherent power dynamics that can lead to problems. Some highlights of our findings include: More than 70 percent of journalists say they never or rarely placed a fixer in immediate danger, while 56 percent of fixers said they were always or often put in danger.
60 percent of journalists state that they never or rarely give fixers credit, while 86 percent of fixers would like credit always (48 percent) or sometimes (38 percent).
About 18 percent of the journalists report asking fixers about their political affiliation often or always, while only 6.6 percent of fixers disclose their political affiliation often or always.
80 percent of fixers report questioning or challenging the editorial focus of a client’s story, while only 44 percent of journalists surveyed report being questioned or challenged by fixers.
Half the journalists say they have been corrected by a fixer, whereas fixers report correcting clients 80 percent of the time.
38 percent of journalists say they never rely on fixers for editorial guidance, while 45 percent of fixers say journalists always rely on them for editorial guidance.
About a third of the fixers identify as “journalist-fixers” and 75 percent of fixers say they have another profession, with fixing only a minor or moderate source of income.
The vast majority (92 percent) of journalists say they find fixers through “word of mouth,” rather than online fixer forums, lists of fixers, or social media. *
What the data could not show, but subsequent interviews indicated, are underlying tensions that often remain hidden in professional interactions. A fixer with more than a quarter century of experience working with one of the American news networks, put it bluntly: “Unfortunately they still look at us as ‘brown’ people with funny accents, and though I have reported and done some of the most important and daring stories for [the network], it is a struggle to get a producer credit. Meanwhile, white kids—years my junior—get their names up [in the credits].”
*Word of mouth often is the best way to find a fixer, but what are some pitfalls of all the foreign journalists who come to a country on an assignment all relying on the same few fixers every time?
Working with Translators
Things to consider:
Gender. You may need a male or female interpreter, depending on the story.
Accuracy. Especially if you’re working in audio/video, the translator can’t translate until the interview subject is finished talking, lest you ruin the tape; this means it’s it’s unlikely they will be able to provide an exact word-for-word translation in the moment. They will be able to capture the gist enough for you to ask a follow-up question, but you will need to have it fully translated afterward. And if you have an inexperienced translator who isn’t used to working with journalists, you might find that they’re butchering the translation, especially when it comes to emotion.*
Transparency. I’ve been in situations where it was clear to me that the translator was not telling me everything that was said, or adding something to what I had asked. This isn’t always a bad thing; sometimes a translator will know something you don’t and will be able to frame a question more diplomatically, but there is a risk that their perspective will affect your reporting.
Tone, emotion, and color. Unless you have an absolutely dynamite translator, you’re going to miss out on some of the nuance of what is said. Don’t be afraid to ask your translator to elaborate if you pick up on body language or a lighthearted moment and feel like you’re missing something. It’s a lot harder to detect bullshit from a source when going through a translator. If you have a really good one, they can help you out with this and let you know if they suspect the subject is lying or evading.
Distance. Building rapport with an interview subject and drawing them out is one of our main tasks as journalists. It’s a lot harder to do when you have someone acting as your intermediary. It can be tempting to address your questions to the interpreter (“Can you ask her to to talk about xyz?” but I find that when I focus on maintaining eye contact with the interviewee, addressing my questions to them, and finding time for little human moments, I end up with a better interview and more positive interaction.
Filming. On a practical level, if it’s a video interview, I find it’s often best to have the translator seated in the space next to the camera where you want the subject to look. No matter how much eye contact you try to make, the subject will usually end up addressing their answer to the translator. Try to sit close to them or even slightly behind so that if the subject’s eyes flick back and forth between you, it’s not too obvious.
*“I went to some village and just about everything had been washed away. I interviewed a man who had lost everything, and tears were coming out of his eyes and he was moving his hands to and fro, and the interpreter said something like, ‘I estimate the damage to my dwelling to be substantial.’”
Finding Sources
If you are planning on working with a fixer, they will often take care of a lot of this for you. But still, if it’s possible, try and reach out to as many potential sources in advance as you can. On a reporting trip, time is precious and efficiency is the name of the game.
You may end up working closely with an NGO or agency. Sometimes this can’t be avoided, but it’s important to be conscious of the dynamic here; ethically, can you report this story while being beholden to a group so intrinsically tied up in the situation?
Protecting Your Gear
Your equipment is your livelihood, so it’s important to make sure that if it gets stolen, confiscated, destroyed, or lost, you have it insured. Even a thousand-dollar theft deductible and a lag time of a month or two before your claim is settled and you can buy new gear (oof, I know) is better than losing everything in one fell swoop and being unable to work.
Camera insurance is not cheap, especially if you’re working in areas the insurers deem to be risky. (I was living in a city that is affectionately nicknamed “Nairobbery” which meant I definitely fell under that category.) There are a lot of options out there; the best deals often change over time and differ from place to place, so shop around and see what your colleagues are doing and how much they’re paying.
For what it’s worth, I used Hays Affinity, purchased through the National Press Photographer’s Association. It cost about $700 to $800 to cover $7,000 to $8,000 worth of equipment for a year. They covered me in Kenya, but any time I traveled anywhere new or added a piece of gear, I had to update them in advance to make sure it would be covered or so they could adjust the premium. It was a pain, but for that one really bad hour of my life after I realized that my fixer had left my camera bag on the side of a dirt road after he emptied out the trunk when we stopped to change a tire, I was very thankful that I had it. (DON’T HIRE CUT-RATE FIXERS, I’M TELLING YOU!)
If you’re going to an actual war zone, there are plans that will cover you for medical care, evacuation, involuntary repatriation, death, etc. Out of consideration for your family if not yourself, make sure you’re covered.
Safety: Be Prepared
Take a hostile environment and/or first aid training if you have the opportunity to do so.
Have the right gear. If body armor is recommended where you’re going, make sure you don’t skimp. It can be difficult to bring this stuff across borders so often there are local journalist organizations where you can find gear to borrow or rent.
There will be a whole class later on in the semester devoted to detailed risk assessments, so stay tuned for a lot more on this topic.
Other Common-Sense Things to Consider
For those of us who aren’t doing frontline reporting or working in countries with repressive regimes, there are still some important items to weigh in advance.
How remote is the assignment? How close will you be to good medical care?
What vaccinations or other precautions are recommended or legally required for the place where you’ll be reporting? (In Tanzania, for instance, you can be denied entry if you don’t have your yellow fever vaccination card.)
What are the roads like where you’re going?
What is the weather going to be like?
What is considered appropriate clothing where you’re going?
What is the internet situation there?
Budgets for these trips are often lean, and news outlets appreciate reporters who can keep costs low. But don’t skimp on certain things: it’s worth it to spend a little more to stay at the hotel that has a backup generator, so you can charge your camera battery, your phone, and your laptop.
Use your network, talk to people who’ve already been there to get some advance street smarts. Don’t be a hero!
Bring snacks. Reporting can be hard work, and people are more likely to make dumb decisions or forget things when they’re hungry.
There are a lot of ways by which governments around the world restrict press freedom. The threat of arrest or deportation; making it unrealistically expensive or complicated to get a press visa; violence.
Before you go anywhere, make sure you’re well-versed in the press freedom landscape of the country you’re visiting. Find out what kind of accreditation you need to operate there legally/safely. The Vulture Club group on Facebook can be a great resource for finding out this sort of thing. We’ll talk more about risk assessments when planning a reporting trip in a future class—just remember that press freedom should always be one of your considerations when weighing the risks of any international reporting.
We’re going to divide up into groups and do in-class discussions and presentations that look at some recent and ongoing high-profile cases of journalists being harassed, physically threatened or detained, or their work otherwise suppressed.
Maria Ressa, The Philippines
Dmitry Muratov, Russia
Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, Myanmar
Mohamed Fahmy, Baher Mohamed, and Peter Greste: Egypt
