In The Global Freelancer, award-winning journalist Steve Dorsey draws on his own experiences, as well as those of fellow reporters and editors, to instruct aspiring freelancers on all aspects of becoming a foreign correspondent. Topics covered include: delivering successful story pitches, location scouting, navigating foreign work documentation and visa requirements, confronting press freedom restrictions, leveraging digital media opportunities, and the new challenges of reporting from conflict zones safely.
As newspapers and networks are forced to close their overseas bureaus, news organizations are relying more than ever before on freelancers to fill the gap. This book offers the freelance foreign correspondents of tomorrow step-by-step guidance on how to seize these opportunities and make a name in this competitive field. Packed with practical guidance, tips, and anecdotes from working professionals, The Global Freelancer is your gateway to a career in foreign journalism.
1. Preparing Yourself
2. Choosing a Location
3. Cold Calling & ‘The Visit’
4. Reporting
5. Managing Money
6. New Media
7. Conflict Zones
Biography
Steve Dorsey is the Executive Editor/Correspondent for Radio at CBS News based in the Washington Bureau. Dorsey has been a longtime award-winning freelance journalist, reporting from Turkey, Russia, Spain, Australia, and New Zealand for major media organizations including CBS News, CNN.com, Voice of America, NPR, CBC, and Bloomberg BNA. He has also worked as a producer for FOX News - covering everything from Congress to The White House and is an advocate for freelance journalists, and mentors young reporters and journalism students.
This book is a must read for anyone interested in becoming a foreign correspondent. Steve Dorsey provides a handbook of how-to’s for the global reporter that is comprehensive and current. He writes in a story-telling fashion with examples from his own struggles and adventures covering news in Istanbul and various other foreign capitals plus advice from other professional journalists. The text also serves to make the reader aware of the challenges of working in today’s volatile journalism environment as well as the rewards the field offers.
-Dr. John Doolittle, Emeritus Professor, School of Communication, American University
"In The Global Freelancer, Dorsey offers others practical advice on how to begin careers as freelance foreigns correspondents. The notion is not as implausible as it might seem as traditional overseas news bureaus have died out. They end up relying more than ever on freelance writers to fill their coverage."
-Journalism & Mass Communication Educator
