ISSUE

Fall 2014

The Future of Foreign News

The veteran correspondents from the so-called legacy media who once flooded the crisis zones have faded away. In their place has come an army of upstarts as well as freelancers, citizen journalists, and people working for NGOs. Meanwhile, the death toll in Syria of journalists continues to mount.
 

Above: <em>A Pakistani Army soldier shields his face from an Army helicopter</em>
On Cover: <em>Girls attending school in Afghanistan in 2002 despite death threats from Taliban holdouts</em>
<em>Photos by Tyler Hicks/The New York Times</em>

Articles

The Education of a Foreign Correspondent

In 1992, when I went to Sarajevo as a young and idealistic reporter to cover the Balkan wars, there were no hostile environment courses and no PTSD de-briefings. We learned…
Adopting Journalistic Techniques at the United Nations

Adopting Journalistic Techniques at the United Nations

A photojournalist explains his decision to leave behind the freelance life and join the U.N.'s communications department
Who Owns the News in Indonesia?

Who Owns the News in Indonesia?

Corporate media ownership mixes with politics to create challenges for independent journalists

Cristian Lupsa, NF ’14, on narrative’s inroads in Romania

In Romania, there is little tradition of deeply reported, well-told true stories, partly a result of an immature media culture, partly a symptom of 40-plus years of communism that has…
Kalpana Jain, NF ’09, teaches girls in India  to report  stories the media misses

Kalpana Jain, NF ’09, teaches girls in India to report stories the media misses

This summer, in the villages of north India, I trained rural young women, ages 15 to 22, in the skills of journalism so they could claim their own voices and…
Honoring Anja Niedringhaus by Supporting Future Visual Journalists

Honoring Anja Niedringhaus by Supporting Future Visual Journalists

Nieman is creating a fellowship in honor of photojournalist Anja Niedringhaus, a member of the class of 2007, who died bearing witness so that we may see
David Finkel and the Art of Immersion Reporting

David Finkel and the Art of Immersion Reporting

David Finkel is a master of immersion reporting, most brilliantly showcased in his two books that follow U.S. soldiers in Iraq and their return to civilian life. A member of…
What GamerGate Can Teach Journalists About Handling Twitter Storms

What GamerGate Can Teach Journalists About Handling Twitter Storms

Key to weathering a social storm is understanding that there may be legitimate criticism worth addressing
What's the Difference Between Activism and Journalism?

What’s the Difference Between Activism and Journalism?

As technology changes how news is gathered and delivered, should journalism continue to be sharply distinguished from activism and other kinds of free speech?
A New Generation of Correspondents Hustles for Work with the Help of the Web

A New Generation of Correspondents Hustles for Work with the Help of the Web

How a clutch of start-ups is supplying the foreign coverage once provided by staff correspondents

Telling Complicated, Beautiful Stories About Chicago

Growing up, if my sister and I were reading, we didn’t have to do chores. So, we read all the time. We loved a good story.My mother wanted us to…
Why Journalists Take the Risk to Report from Dangerous Places

Why Journalists Take the Risk to Report from Dangerous Places

When entire regions are no-go zones for journalists, what do we accept as news?

Embracing Encryption in an Age of Surveillance

Modern communica­tions and the rise of the surveillance state make it harder than ever for journalists abroad to protect their sources. The consequences for sources can be dire, even fatal.Journalists…
As Legacy News Outlets Retreat, Who Will Be There to Report on the World?

As Legacy News Outlets Retreat, Who Will Be There to Report on the World?

The escalating personal and financial cost of foreign reporting is changing the way correspondents cover the world
Lorie Conway, NF ’94, tells the story of Beatrice Mtetwa, defender of justice

Lorie Conway, NF ’94, tells the story of Beatrice Mtetwa, defender of justice

A film about Beatrice Mtetwa, the internationally known, hard-charging human rights lawyer in Zimbabwe, was a natural. What was fortuitous is that it took root in Lippmann House. I co-produced the…