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International News Reporting: Frontlines and Deadlines ambitiously pauses the international reporting world to explicate how news correspondents do what they (dangerously) do. Although crafted to complement correspondence curriculum, the text enlightens media studies, intimately unveiling the many dimensions of international print, broadcast and photo journalisms. It also carefully addresses news history and trends while subtly pacifying the future-of-journalism skeptic through heralding of the trade.

Renown in their own rights, editors John Owen and Heather Purdey skillfully pull together seasoned specialists who write as if participating in personal one-on-one conversation with readers. John Owen, professor of international journalism at City University in London, has played a leading role in international journalism for the past 30 years. His experience includes serving as chief news editor of CBC Television News as well as founding the Freedom Forum in London, the Frontline Club Forum in London, and News Xchange. Co-editor Heather Purdey is a senior lecturer in the Department of Journalism and Publishing at City University in London. A journalist since 1976 with experience spanning newspapers, radio and television, Purdey has worked as a consultant in Eastern Europe, designed training programmes for Slovakia and Kenya, and established the UK’s first vocational undergraduate broadcast journalism program.

Owen and Purdey tap fifteen award-winning industry experts to montage best-of-profession insights. Contributors provide breadth, stemming from most wakes of journalism and spanning perspectives, with female journalists’ tales enriching the discourse. Tony Burman (Al Jazeera　English managing director), Bridget Kendall (a winner of the James Cameron award for distinguished journalism), Gary Knight (an award-winning photojournalist), and David Schlesinger (Reuters editor-in-chief), among others, capture reader attention. Passionate writing plus carefully selected personal experiences peppered with well-documented research result in a well thought-out and prepared manuscript.

While the text whispers wisdom from the kindly shared what-I-wish-I-had-knowns, it urges readied readers to carry the baton(s) passed from contributors. This great strength is also one of International Reporting’s weaknesses. Tautological to the discussion of international journalism by international journalists is the greatness of the profession. It seems that each of "the forms of journalism" is "without doubt the purest and noblest of all" (p. 79). Further, the "greatness" is lopsided by comparison. A foundational tenet of the book suggests U.S. reporting is the standard of journalism because of U.S. reporters’ tenacity, skill and rich resources. As important as the U.S. influence on reporting may (or may not) be, greater depth with regard to international journalism could be provided through inclusion of a wider diversity of journalistic philosophies. For example, how has journalism developed or how is it developing in Asia and the Middle East? Why are pioneers from these areas not included in the anthology?

Honorable mentions do occur. Sambrook’s contribution on citizen journalism and social media broaches possibilities for amplifying voices in a muted media environment (see, for example, pp. 239-240). Burman’s article regarding the need for us as humans to learn from and hear one another skirts the idea, pointing out the ironic decline of U.S. journalists alongside an increase in other nations’ reporters, like those from Canada. Smith echoes pre-eminent New York journalist John Swinton’s 1880 remarks calling journalists out on their intellectual prostitution as hired storytellers while denying the existence of an independent press (p. 59). Additionally, Borden states, "New talent, new institutions, entirely new mentalities of how to communicate within and abroad about countries in transition are transforming the media landscape…" (p. 147). But many of the challenges journalists from non-Western philosophies face remain silent or absent. In essence, for whatever reason, and given their best attempt, Owen and Purdey’s work is Western-skewed.

That aside, the manuscript, in its entirety, deftly describes the development of the industry through primary accounts. It charts electronic journalism’s expansion from 2D photos to real-time news images, rakes in expert descriptions of preparation for and reporting on wars, natural disasters and crises, in general, and peeks into media power and ethics. Perhaps the most straight-forward advice is from photojournalist Knight: "Don’t cheat. Don’t lie. Try to tell it as you see it. The primary purpose of the photographer is to challenge the audience to think about the issue that is being photographed and to respond to it. You need to inform your audience so that they can act" (p. 81, italics added).

In other words, the text successfully speaks specifically to certain audiences. It directs those wondering how to get involved with international reporting, pointing out safety courses to complete. It gives the amateur tips regarding what next steps to take and how to take them while trailing stories (see, for example, Kendall’s remarks on diplomacy and journalism). It spotlights what citizen journalists and bloggers are doing within their spheres of influence to get their voices heard, regardless of their nation’s degree of press freedom. It also normalizes emotions and lists resources available to story survivors who need to decompress.

One of the obvious aides in speaking specifically to audiences is Owen’s crafted introduction to each contributed article. Each foreword contextualizes the chapter and remarks on the contributing author’s expertise, adding credibility to, authority to and reasoning for the inclusion. Thoughtful questions at each chapter’s inclusion spur reader reflection on the topics addressed.

Perhaps of greatest interest are two points. One is the ode to the profession. Misgivings aside, these correspondents communicate fervor for their livelihood, sometimes witnessing their colleagues dying in the line of duty, always missing and memorializing them once they are gone. Another is the editors’ positive positioning of the future of international reporting, given industry constraints among technological advancements within a globalizing society. According to Sambrook, "The fundamental purposes, principles and values of good journalism are unchanged by the internet. But the opportunities for sharing experience, opinion, discovery and expertise are greatly increased and can enrich and improve journalism in the years ahead" (p. 240).

In conclusion, Owen and Purdey’s compilation has the first-person voice Hohenberg’s Foreign Correspondence (1995) and Hess’ International News & Foreign Correspondents (1996) lacked. Somewhat idealistic, it is deficient, though, in the level of critique Rosenblum’s Who Stole the News? (1993) delivers. Nevertheless, its bottom-line contribution is best summarized in Christiane Amanpour’s telling endorsement, "This book shows there can be no substitute for first-hand reporting from the field."

References

Hess, S. (1996). International news & foreign correspondents. Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institute.

Hohenberg, J. (1995). Foreign correspondence: The great reporters and their times (2^nd ed.). New York: Syracuse University Press.

Rosenblum, M. (1993). Who stole the news? Why we can’t keep up with what happens in the world, and what we can do about it. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.