“It’s not about foreign versus local… the skills will outshine the passport,” Malinda Seneviratne, poet and editor of Sri Lanka’s newspaper The Nation, said.
Seneviratne has provided multiple opinions on foreign journalists reporting within his country or one outside of their own.
It’s obvious that he respects good reporting when he sees it. No matter where they are reporting, there must be qualified sources and an understanding that authenticity of writing within a new nation cannot be produced out of two days of being there.
It takes immersion, which takes time.
The aspect to be weary of with international journalists, he said, is every single person has an agenda. Each comes with an idea or goal for what to accomplish, so it’s important to analyze exactly what that is when networking with them.
As an aspiring international journalist, it was important I learned this early on.
People know foreign journalists have their own reasons or motivations, so there is a process of immersion that must occur, almost like a right of passage, before I could prove genuine concern for their issues and drawing needed attention to them.
This also contributes to the theory a peace journalist must work within the local levels to witness exactly what is stirring on the ground of a nation. The other aspect is balancing the representation of both sides in reports.
Moroccan parliamentarian Mimi Bradly said when learning about a conflict or a movement, engage with both sides, learn from all angles what is driving the tension. This is spot on with avoiding victimization or one-sidedness common to war journalism.
It’s also a way to ensure when embracing and learning a new country the journalist’s experience is not crafted by one side. An immersion process requires help from locals, but as anyone else, locals have an agenda too.
Local reporting requires a thorough understanding not only of both sides of an issue but all areas within a specific place. Dr. Schaar said local reporters are excellent due to their extensive knowledge of a specific area. He said they are the ones who can analyze a situation and capture why the people should take a stand.
Even though there is always something new to learn, quality local reporting in a foreign country is possible, because local knowledge can be internalized.
There are also other dynamics besides nationality that seem boundless on the global stage and can offer insight that others may not understand.
Examples of these other dynamics are usually commonalities between people regardless of birthplace, such as gender or age.
Associate Professor Erdem Yoruk of Koc University in Istanbul said we could understand the people of Taksim more than their own government, because it was a generational understanding. There are codes and ideas we relate to thanks merely to our similar priorities.
Traces of this were even evident in the Arab Spring.
An international peace journalist will be challenged with immersion in some aspects but will also naturally possess analytical scopes, which will be essential to unraveling situations to accurately report.
Seneviratne has provided multiple opinions on foreign journalists reporting within his country or one outside of their own.
It’s obvious that he respects good reporting when he sees it. No matter where they are reporting, there must be qualified sources and an understanding that authenticity of writing within a new nation cannot be produced out of two days of being there.
It takes immersion, which takes time.
The aspect to be weary of with international journalists, he said, is every single person has an agenda. Each comes with an idea or goal for what to accomplish, so it’s important to analyze exactly what that is when networking with them.
As an aspiring international journalist, it was important I learned this early on.
People know foreign journalists have their own reasons or motivations, so there is a process of immersion that must occur, almost like a right of passage, before I could prove genuine concern for their issues and drawing needed attention to them.
This also contributes to the theory a peace journalist must work within the local levels to witness exactly what is stirring on the ground of a nation. The other aspect is balancing the representation of both sides in reports.
Moroccan parliamentarian Mimi Bradly said when learning about a conflict or a movement, engage with both sides, learn from all angles what is driving the tension. This is spot on with avoiding victimization or one-sidedness common to war journalism.
It’s also a way to ensure when embracing and learning a new country the journalist’s experience is not crafted by one side. An immersion process requires help from locals, but as anyone else, locals have an agenda too.
Local reporting requires a thorough understanding not only of both sides of an issue but all areas within a specific place. Dr. Schaar said local reporters are excellent due to their extensive knowledge of a specific area. He said they are the ones who can analyze a situation and capture why the people should take a stand.
Even though there is always something new to learn, quality local reporting in a foreign country is possible, because local knowledge can be internalized.
There are also other dynamics besides nationality that seem boundless on the global stage and can offer insight that others may not understand.
Examples of these other dynamics are usually commonalities between people regardless of birthplace, such as gender or age.
Associate Professor Erdem Yoruk of Koc University in Istanbul said we could understand the people of Taksim more than their own government, because it was a generational understanding. There are codes and ideas we relate to thanks merely to our similar priorities.
Traces of this were even evident in the Arab Spring.
An international peace journalist will be challenged with immersion in some aspects but will also naturally possess analytical scopes, which will be essential to unraveling situations to accurately report.
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