I’m getting sick of my perpetual career crisis, and it’s become clear that the only thing that makes me happy is travel. Although you’d never know it from my rantings on the Dope, I am a relatively talented writer and my dream would be to be a foreign corrospondant- perferably in exciting and dangerous areas.
What steps could I do to make this happen? I have a degree in film/video production (not exactly relevent) and no actual journalism experience except a brief stint as an editor for a crazy guy’s crazy book. I’m open to grad school and have the grades to be choosey about where I go, but I’m only interested if it will help my chances of landing a job. I’ve heard everything from “Go back to school” to “Just take a plane to a warzone and keep sending articles to the AP until they start paying you for them”.
Not be overly sexist, but on a practical note (IMO) the risk factors for a single young female reporter in a war zone are pretty substantial, even beyond the personal injury issues. You could well be targeted a likely kidnap prospect, or abducted for a gang rape. I’m sure you’re as brave as they come, but (to me) the collateral risks are simply too high for this to be a recommended vocation.
First you need to become a journalist. Once that happens you need to hook on at a paper (or network if you look the part) that has a significant foreign desk. Either that or hook on with one of the wire services.
Then you need to volunteer for war work. The rest is up to you. Make sure you have bodyguards. It’s not the safest of pursuits.
Thanks Snooooopy, thats exactly the kind of advice I was looking for.
I’m aware of the risks. I also believe that journalism is an important part of preventing atrocities and improving conditions around the world. There are countless aid workers, nuns, doctors and others living around the world in some of the most dangerous places, and they all live hard lives but bring unmeasurable good in to the world. I’m not a doctor. I’m not a much of a skilled worker. But I have an endless restlessness, I enjoy being in and am comfortable in the third world, I can sleep anywhere and eat anything, I am nearly fearless, I know a lot about geo-politics and have a great desire to research anywhere I am travelling in, and I fit in well in male-comraderie situations. I want nothing more than a job that uses my talents, allows me to move around, and gives me a chance to do some kind of good in the world. I’m not stuck on being a war reporter (and I’m not stuck on being right in the middle of conflict- foreign corrospondant in some of the less desirable regions of the world would be fine)- but so far it seems like the closest match.
The military is out of the question, for person reasons.
But I’ll definitely put “become a journalist” on my to-do list.
Since you have a degree in film/video production, you can probably become a videographer for television.
Start by looking for jobs in smaller markets. You won’t be sent overseas immediately; in fact, at a local station, you might not be sent anywhere besides the local high school to shoot football games.
You might want to see if you can intern for a station to learn the ropes. Be forewarned, though, that internships for non-students can be hard to find, and if you live near a union city, you might not learn anything useful. (This is one of the problems some of my classmates are having. Union rules prohibit anyone but a union member from doing certain jobs, and that includes unpaid interns. So the kids spend a lot of time watching.) As an alternative, you might find out if your uni’s campus TV station will let you do stuff.
Another thing is to talk to a professor of journalism. They can sometimes point you places and suggest things you can do to make yourself employable as a journalist.
Nope, they don’t, but they aren’t going to send a reporter who’s just learning the business into a war zone. That is reserved for seasoned journalists.
Also, while a small newspaper will hire you with little experience, the bigger papers–the ones that have resources to send reporters to a war zone–will NOT hire you without experience. The New York Times won’t even look at your resume until you have FIVE years of experience as a reporter.
A masters in journalism probably won’t help you get sent over there sooner, either. You’re going to have to start at the bottom either way.
But there is another option: You can pay to fly yourself over there, and just start covering stories on your own. But I DO NOT recommend this. I doubt you’d be allowed any access to anything important, anyway. You certainly wouldn’t be allowed to travel with troops, but if you wanted to cover, say, how Afghan women are coping at home, you might have some luck. But then, I’m not sure how easy it is to even get into these countries. I’m sure you’d need a visa of some kind …
If nothing else, start writing. If you don’t like the writing process, journalism of any kind will be a chore, and the more practice you get the better. You might try doing freelance pieces (not in a war zone). If you can get people interested in your writing, whether about things local or encountered on your travels, that can only help.
The most intelligent way is to pay your dues, show the higher ups what you can do and when a position opens up you will have substantial support and a solid position. But remember only the best rise high enough to do it.
or you can do it the way I did it. I had been a reporter when I joined the Peace Corps. After two years there, I came back by way of Isreal and was working on a Kibutz picking grapefruit on the Golan Heights when the Yom Kipper War broke out around me. I called a couple of wire services and newspaper chains and fed the ones who offered me a job my stories. I did that for a few years and came back to the states and still work for the chain who hired me.
I will tell you that it is not a comfortable life. How the broadcast guys live is a lot more comfortable than the print guys. I also would point out I have been shot, hit by shrapnel, tear gassed at least three times and struck by police/military types a number of times. I even spent a week under arrest.
I have also spent days living in such places as train stations and have gone many days without bathing because there were no facilities available.
To this day better than 25 years later, I cannot donate blood when blood donations are requested. Just too many weird bugs in my system (Granted, some of those could be from my Peace Corps time too).