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Abstract
This article challenges the widespread idea that, in an age of instantaneous and ubiquitously accessible information, foreign correspondents are doomed to disappear. The last study of foreign correspondents in the London hub was conducted 30 years ago. Based on a new study involving a range of in-depth interviews with foreign correspondents in the British capital, the article reveals the “story behind their stories” and the changes that have occurred since then. It particularly focuses on the impact that advances in communication technologies have had on the correspondents’ professional identity, newsgathering routines, and news outputs. The findings contribute to a more nuanced and empirical understanding of the impact of media globalization on the practice of journalism. They underline the increasingly important role of foreign correspondents as “sense makers” within the huge tide of information available. While foreign journalists have to a large extent always fulfilled this function, they appear more needed than ever in a deeply interdependent world. Foreign correspondents are also developing novel ways of reporting. Indeed, rather than a “crisis” of foreign correspondence, we could perhaps be witnessing its renaissance.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The study presented in this article would have not been possible without the generous time contributions made by all foreign correspondents who took part in the interviews, the help of the London Foreign Press Association, and the financial support of the Salford University Research Innovation and Strategic Fund. I am grateful to Professor Howard Tumber, whom I met in the preliminary stages of the project, for sharing his experience in conducting interviews with journalists.
Notes
1. On the disappearance of foreign correspondents, see Kalb (Citation1990) and Hiatt (Citation2007); on the “evolution” of their role and activities, see Hamilton and Jenner (Citation2004).
2. Here are just a few relatively recent texts the reader might want to consult. In relation to foreign correspondence in general: Hannerz (Citation2004); the special issue of Journalism Studies 11(5) (2010); Sambrook (Citation2010). About foreign correspondence in the United Kingdom: Morrison and Tumber (Citation1981, Citation1985); Bober (Citation1999). On foreign correspondence in the United States: Hess (Citation1996, Citation2005); Wilnat and Weaver (Citation2003); Hamilton and Jenner (Citation2004); Wu and Hamilton (Citation2004); Hamilton (Citation2009).
3. Some organizations have not been named to protect the anonymity of the journalists who prefer not to be identified.
4. Again, some names of correspondents and details of organizations have been omitted for confidentiality reasons.
5. According to Carroll (Citation2006, p. 13), an average American paper bureau costs between $200,000 and $300,000 a year.
6. Interview with Christopher Wyld, London Foreign Press Association director (autumn 2008), and with John Hewitt, International Media Officer at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (March 2011).
7. Tristan de Bourbon Parme, for example, works for Le Soir (Belgian newspaper); La Tribune de Geneve/24Heures (Swiss newspaper); MyEurop (French website); L'Humanité (French newspaper); France Soir (French newspaper). An anonymous Finnish correspondent works for four outlets: a Finnish newspaper, a Finnish website, two specialized publications (one Finnish, one Swedish).
8. See more about this story at: “Phone-hacking Scandal: timeline”, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14124020.
