Tactic 8: Remember That Everything Changes

The skills foreign correspondents employ and the tools they use may have changed over the years, but the essence of the job remains the same. Even as the world becomes increasingly connected, journalists continue to provide an important service in explaining global events and giving us a better understanding of what is happening, why, and what the consequences are.

But just as the telex replaced the telegraph, and cell phones are displacing landlines, new tools will emerge in international reporting. Whatever form those tools may take, whatever benefits they may offer, correspondents need to use them with the same principles that apply today: Verify everything before you publish; be transparent about your work; keep yourself and your sources secure.