Nancy Benson, Associate Professor
Department of Journalism, UI

The changing face of broadcast journalism today is best reflected in the SoJo—a solo news professional who shoots, writes, and edits stories. This is the modern equivalent of the team of people it once took to get a news story on the air. The “Solo Journalist” is the result of two influences: a tendency for running trimmed-up news operations to increase profits and the miniaturization of equipment as part of the digital revolution. For the last decade, nearly all U.S. journalism schools have been training broadcast students to function as SoJos. Now the SoJo is going global.

International television news in the U.S. was once the domain of the three major broadcast networks—ABC, CBS, and NBC. Foreign correspondents stationed in bureaus often studied the region, spoke the local language, and lived among the people. They spent time developing expertise and sources. Today, most of the overseas network bureaus are closed and a new type of foreign correspondent is emerging.

The foreign correspondent of the future is likely to be a SoJo, unattached to a traditional newsroom. A compact digital camera, laptop computer, and satellite phone are all this nomadic globalist needs to file a story.

Billed as the first Yahoo foreign correspondent, Kevin Sites posts his stories to Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone (www.hotzone.yahoo.com). He describes his mission this way:

“To cover every armed conflict in the world within one year, and in doing so to provide a clear idea of the combatants, victims, causes, and costs of each of these struggles—and their global impact. With honest, thoughtful reporting we’ll strive to establish Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone as a forum for information and involvement. Users will not only learn about the scope of world conflict, but will find ways to be part of the solutions—through dialogue, debate, and avenues for action. We will not chase headlines nor adhere to pack journalism but vigorously pursue the stories in front of and behind the conflict, the small stories that when strung together illustrate a more complete picture.”

To prepare my students to function as international SoJos, I took ten journalism students on a three-week reporting expedition to Peru.

The course focused on Peru because the country is representative of the Andean countries—with all the problems and promises of integrating large indigenous population masses into the modern world. Just as Peru contains nearly 90 of the approximately 110 micro-climates in the world, it is also a microcosm for the myriad conflicts that occur when a developing country aspires to become part of the developed world.

The course challenged students to see the connections between the lives of people in Peru, and those of people in the United States, as well as cultural differences. Seeing connections is whatNew York Times columnist Thomas Friedman describes as the real “value-added” benefit provided by a journalist these days.

To prepare for the reporting trip, students spent a semester studying the issues, researching story ideas, and examining how their seemingly disconnected story themes might have common threads running through the developed and developing world alike. They met with experts from across campus. To check their impressions, the U.S. journalism students collaborated and conferred with Peruvian journalism students at Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas in Lima. They tackled topics that cut across all strata of society such as education, the status of women, tourism, terrorism, and mining. They also previewed the recent presidential election.

For some, the challenge of reporting in another country seemed overwhelming at times, as reflected in Weblog entries:

“I’ve been researching a story regarding globalization, using an American company in Peru as a test case. I’ve been going at this for the better part of the past semester.

And yet, after today, I feel I know so little. I realize that I need to be a whole lot more educated. Otherwise I’m likely to be that journalist that I hate: the foreign correspondent who sends a few emails, conducts three or four interviews and calls it a day, buying every bit of spin and hype without ever scratching the surface.”
—posted by A. J.
Friday May 20, 2005

“I learned that the story you came to find...may not be the real or most important story.

You need to dig deeper and listen, really listen to what is at the heart of those you interview. What is its effect on people and on the world. As journalists we can’t just skate along covering surface issues, staying within our comfort zone. If that is the case, you will fail yourself and your audience.”

—posted by R.H.
Friday June 3, 2005

For another student there was revelation:

“I really have become very interested in the issue of foreign investment and the globalization of developing countries. In the past, I have tried to avoid covering issues related to economics and global trade, but this experience has taught me a great deal. I’m glad I tackled something I wasn’t entirely comfortable with, and I am particularly pleased that it’s all making sense!”

—posted by A.R.
Friday June 03, 2005

Two students saw connections between Peru and the United States after interviewing jailed terrorists at a prison in Cajamarca. They learned that Peru was retrying many convicted terrorists after the high court determined the terror suspects had been tried improperly in military courts. They also discovered that many of the complaints about the methods used in Peru to get information from terror suspects echoed the complaints about methods the United States was using to interrogate terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Sometimes, the Weblog entries reflected what students were seeing and feeling that might be inappropriate to include in a news story.

“I still can’t believe it. I mean I’ve seen pictures of slums on T.V. and things like that but never seen it first hand. It was my first time watching women and men pick through stacks of garbage looking for anything salvageable for food and other purposes. Really, really shocking. I mean I’ve seen very poor neighborhoods in the U.S. before but there is no comparison.”

The student journalists learned that globalization issues are complex, that not everyone benefits from technological and economic advances equally, and that getting past their own perceptions and expectations can sometimes be difficult. “There’s a lot more things to factor in other than jumping on an airplane and landing in Peru and walking out of the airplane with a notepad, ready to start interviewing people.” They vow to approach their reporting differently, and as an instructor of international solo journalists, I am approaching my teaching differently. If they are to present a fairand balanced view of our increasingly interconnected world these future foreign correspondents must divest of their cultural biases, national allegiances, and political credos.