Words from abroad

We so rely on journalists and Foreign Correspondents for what we see and understand from 'over there'. That daily feed which skillfully deciphers and interpretates from every part of the globe.

I hadn't realised that Hitchcock had made a film in 1940 called Foreign Correspondent, which tells the story of an American reporter, who tries to expose enemy spies in Britain. It involves a continent-wide conspiracy, which eventually leads to war. The film was up for an Academy Award in 1941 along with Hitchcock's Rebecca, which ultimately snatched the title of Best Picture. In his article from a couple of years back, Timothy Garton Ash suggests that although the days of the Foreign Correspondent are over, as Waugh satirised them in his novel Scoop, the craft remains a necessary one. The life also remains a hazardous one.

Reporters Without Borders campaigns vigorously for international press freedom while the Committee to Protect Journalists continues to fight for the protection of journalists worldwide. Both organisations bring the reality of reporting into sharp focus, and the struggles and dangers that can be encountered. 107 journalists and assistants were killed in the course of their work in 2011; 141 killed in 2012 (37 in Syria and 19 in Somalia); 129 killed in 2013. Out of that last figure, 39% of the casualties were in a war zone. A five year summary from the Press Emblem Campaign, covering 2009 - 2013 lists in total 609 journalists killed, which averages out at 122 a year or 1 every 3 days. As of Tuesday 7 January 2014 two journalists have already been killed in this new year.

I'm in the middle of reading China's War with Japan 1937 - 1945 by Rana Mitter. Modern China fascinates and disturbs. I wanted to understand its attitude towards Japan, which appears increasingly turbulent, and China's relationship with the rest of the international community. I came across a review of Mitter's book in The Guardian which suggested there was 'no better guide'.  It makes for a riveting read. Rana Mitter is professor of history and politics of modern China at Oxford University. A brilliant academic who is an equally brilliant storyteller, he effortlessly explains the internal politics and key political personalities in China during this time, along with the role the major powers played in the upheaval.

Du Zhong Yuan (1895 - 1943) was one of China's best-known war time journalists and reported in great detail on the Japanese invasion of China. Mitter describes Du's style of reporting in detail, but also examines the climate in which Du worked. How he 'haggled for rides on military convoys or hitched rides' and suggest that while Du was 'clearly having the time of his life',  he was also 'exhilarated and shocked in equal measure by all the carnage of people and place, that he saw. In the 30s China had a rich and lively press culture, rather than a nationwide broadcasting network. Du's experiences across the country went into detail, in an attempt to explain precisely what was going on to the Chinese people. The deprivations and hair-raising experiences that Du endured were the same as every shopkeeper and peasant, soldier and government official. So Du's writing was understood and empathetic. 

In her paper Report the Nation: Understanding the Role of Foreign Correspondents in 21st Century Public Diplomacy, Cristina Archetti (Lecturer in Politics and Media) suggests that although FCs ' . . shape a country to the eyes of foreign audiences every day through their reporting . . .their role tends to be neglected by both policy makers and researchers." If she's correct, it seems an extraordinarily blinkered approach and a dreadful waste.


Footnote: link to working conditions in China for journalists today