The World on a String: How to Become a Freelance Foreign Correspondent

Young reporters need not spend years struggling in obscurity to land coveted foreign assignments. In fact, technological advances and cost-cutting at major media companies have created unprecedented opportunities for enterprising journalists to succeed abroad as freelance correspondents--stringers--for newspapers, magazines, radio, television, wire services, and Internet outlets.

The World on a String: How to Become a Freelance Foreign Correspondent is the step-by-step manual that describes how to:
*choose your region wisely
*select the right equipment
*establish vital editorial contacts at home and abroad
*make ends meet while filing stories to various media
*prepare for the risks of reporting from war zones
*work effectively with distant editors

Colorful anecdotes and practical advice from successful stringers around the world highlight the trials and triumphs of freelancing abroad, enabling you to assess and take control of your career in the competitive world of journalism.

Goodman is a Spain-based stringer (freelance foreign correspondent) for the New York Times, CNN, the International Tribune, and CondeNast Traveler; John Pollack was a stringer for the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and the Associated Press. Today there is a market for freelance correspondence because newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and the wire services are cutting costs--outsourcing, in a manner of speaking. The authors have come up with a clearly written and informative guide for the young journalist (or not-so-young journalist) who wants to travel that covers choosing a region and setting goals; basic skills and advice on surviving financially out in the field; networking with editors and filing stories; and assessing opportunities. And they use that tried-and-true method for teaching principles and making points: plenty of examples. Stories from freelancers based around the world make it all fun and instructional. Leon Wagner