Conventional Definitions Be Gone

Editors weren’t very open to these kinds of arrangements when I graduated from Columbia Journalism School fifteen years ago, but much has changed since then. And while I am concerned about how financially untenable and unsafe it is for freelance journalists to work abroad these days, I’m glad there are now options beyond the traditional foreign correspondent route, through assignments and jobs with groups like Human Rights Watch.

Now when recent graduates ask me for advice on reporting internationally, I tell them not to worry if an outlet or a gig meets the conventional definition of journalism. I suggest they find work that will allow them to learn about and report on subjects that matter to them. And that’s what is promising about international reporting today. Journalists are deciding what matters to them and they’re going after it. Some may be using journalistic techniques but calling themselves advocates. Either way, the space to do international investigative reporting, traditionally found within mainstream news outlets, is now just as likely to be available at a nonprofit startup, through a collective of freelancers, or at an advocacy group.