When I was alone in Moscow, I considered myself the correspondent of the whole paper, a very big one. I wrote not only about diplomacy and politics but about everything else, from fashions to sports. That is the reason for having a broad journalistic background; a foreign correspondent may have to write about anything.
When I was abroad my office often consisted of nothing but the desk in my hotel room. Nowadays a properly equipped permanent bureau has shelves of reference books; a bank of clattering teletype machines bringing in news from one or more news agencies; an electric typewriter or a computer terminal enabling a correspondent to feed a dispatch directly into the home-office network, where it is edited and set into type electronically; a telex machine affording direct and immediate contact with the editors at headquarters; a television set for monitoring local news; a short-wave radio to bring in the BBC, which correspondents consider the best radio news service in the world; and the old-fashioned but still indispensable telephone. Television correspondents additionally have a back-breaking amount of photographic, light and sound equipment.
I was one for 15 years, and only came home when ordered back because of illness brought on, I believe, by overwork in Moscow. Yet, I still say that covering the Soviet Union was the most challenging and satisfying job I ever had. When I overcame the obstacles to news-gathering in Moscow-mostly secrecy and censorship in my day-and got a front-page story, I knew I had achieved something. Once I had three stories on Page 1 in a single day. That may have been the peak in a long career.
Incidentally, I didn't get rich. Salaries in journalism are still modest. There is not as much difference as people imagine between print media and broadcasting pay. Even in television, only those in the biggest jobs in the biggest markets make really big money-those multimillion-dollar salaries you hear about.
P.S. Don't forget that many universities, journalism schools and foundations offer scholarships for foreign travel and study. If you happen to be going abroad on your own, try writing some articles for your hometown paper or getting a summer job in a news bureau. At least, practice your languages.
The Associated Press (AP)
New York, NY
AP gathers and disseminates state, national and international news and photographs to over 15,000 newspapers and radio and TV stations in 116 countries. AP, the oldest and largest news-gathering agency in the world, is a not-for-profit cooperative, owned and operated by its American newspaper and broadcast members. Members contribute local and regional stories that may be of interest to a larger audience; they may use any story on AP wires. AP pays salaries competitive with those of other correspondents.
Professional staff
AP employs approximately 1,600 journalists (reporters, photographers and editors) in the 137 U.S. bureaus. It has about 500 people in 83 bureaus overseas. Most of those overseas are journalists but some are technical and clerical workers as AP develops, constructs and maintains its own communications equipment worldwide. Only about 100 overseas personnel are U.S. citizens; the rest are local nationals. About 130 people were hired for the domestic staff in the past year. The number of people hired for overseas assignments is not available.
Qualifications
A college degree and a minimum of two years experience in daily news-working on either a newspaper or broadcast outlet-is required. In order to be posted abroad, an AP journalist must first work in a domestic bureau and on the general or foreign desk at AP's world headquarters in New York. Knowledge of a foreign language is required for overseas assignment but experience abroad is not. Regional expertise is also useful.
Internships
AP offers a 13-week summer internship program for minority students. Twelve paid internships are offered both to college and to graduate students wishing to pursue a career in journalism.
Cable News Network (CNN)
Atlanta, GA
CNN is a 24-hour news channel covering world and local events. It is produced out of its Atlanta headquarters and receives dispatches from its reporters throughout the U.S. and the world.
Professional staff
CNN's foreign news desk employs a professional staff of 6 in the U.S. and 20 reporters overseas, who are stationed in Beirut, Cairo, Frankfurt, Jerusalem, London, Moscow, Nairobi, Rome and Tokyo. They travel within their surrounding areas to cover events. There are 9 U.S.-based domestic news bureaus, which employ about 60 reporters. In the past year, the CNN foreign operation hired 3 people for U.S. and 10 for overseas positions. Both foreign nationals and U.S. citizens are hired for overseas assignments.
Qualifications
For correspondents, CNN seeks applicants with a college degree and at least 10 years of television work as a reporter. Knowledge of a foreign language is required for overseas work; Spanish, French, Arabic and Russian are the most useful. Overseas experience is not usually required.
Training program
CNN's Atlanta bureau offers entry-level training programs in video journalism. College graduates are eligible. The program lasts 6-12 months; after completing it, trainees work as production assistants and editors or in technical jobs. After a few years of service in the U.S., some might be transferred abroad.
Internships
CNN offers unpaid, overseas summer internships to aspiring journalists. Interns should be graduate students (often in journalism school or international affairs) with journalism experience. Each foreign bureau takes at least one intern each summer.
There is also an internship program in the U.S. Applicants should have a desire to become a television journalist and, for overseas work, knowledge of a language. In Atlanta, about 175 interns are hired annually. In Washing-ton, DC, there are about 100; in Los Angeles, 60; and in New York, 35. Interns do not normally serve on the foreign desk.
