{"id":12005,"date":"2019-11-11T07:53:38","date_gmt":"2019-11-11T12:53:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/sjc\/?p=12005"},"modified":"2019-11-12T08:48:07","modified_gmt":"2019-11-12T13:48:07","slug":"from-bj-to-foreign-correspondent-advice-from-a-journalism-alumna","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/sjc\/2019\/from-bj-to-foreign-correspondent-advice-from-a-journalism-alumna\/","title":{"rendered":"From BJ to foreign correspondent: advice from a journalism alumna"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jena Lynde-Smith<\/p>\n

Going and doing something is always worth doing \u2013 but it\u2019s not uncomplicated<\/p>\n

This the advice that journalism alumna, Barbara Plett Usher, has for students who may want to pursue a job\u00a0 reporting abroad.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Plett Usher visited Carleton recently to present her lecture Upset or Reset: Trump\u2019s Middle East Parameters<\/em>. She assessed Trump\u2019s plan for the future of the Middle East, his \u201cdeal of the century,\u201d and the impact it is having, and may continue to have, on various regions. She provided a thorough birds-eye view of the current political landscape of the Middle East \u2013 an interpretation derived from her own experience as the State Department Correspondent for the BBC.<\/p>\n

Graduating with a bachelor of journalism degree in 1991, Plett Usher said her original goal was to land a job at a big newspaper. When this was unsuccessful, she decided to travel.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t want to travel to a bunch of different countries \u2013 I just wanted to go to a place that was interesting and hang out there, and try a bit of journalism,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Her first destination was South Africa. She stayed there for about four months until she connected with a freelance journalist in Egypt. This carried her to Cairo \u2013 where she then planned to spend a short time.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the three months, during which I made no money at all, I didn\u2019t really have anything to go back to. So I thought \u2018oh I\u2019ll hang out a bit more,\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

While she was in Cairo, she said she was told that to succeed in freelance journalism that she should be doing radio.\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cI had only ever thought of myself as a print journalist, but if you\u2019re freelancing, radio can keep you going. You do short, sharp hits and you can do quite a lot of them,\u201d she said. \u201cWith print, all the news agencies do the news \u2013 and you do a feature here and there, but with radio, they need a voice and they need somebody on the ground. So you\u2019re actually doing the news.\u201d<\/p>\n

Plett Usher said that switching to radio is what began opening up doors for her career. She began freelancing for a number of organizations and one of her freelance roles was as a back-up for a BBC correspondent.<\/p>\n

It was through this arrangement that she was given the opportunity to travel even more. She started applying for jobs with the BBC and began landing a number of foreign positions. These placements had her reporting in places like Jordan, Jerusalem, and Iraq. From there she was placed in Pakistan for four years, and then the UN for another four years. Shortly after that she was hired in Washington as the State Department Correspondent. She is currently involved in a five-month project in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not like I decided I was going to go and be a foreign correspondent. I decided I was going to go and try it out and then things happened so that I kept staying,\u201d she said. \u201cI put myself in that space and it opened up opportunities for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Plett Usher said that students contemplating foreign reporting should explore freelancing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe chances of you getting hired by a news organization and sent overseas are less than they used to be. Also, as news organizations contract there may be more opportunities for people who place themselves in the field and can just do that job,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

She also said there are many factors to take into consideration when deciding to travel abroad to do journalism. When choosing where you want to report, she said to look at a place where there is a news story and a place with access to communications. She also said to factor in the cost of living. More seriously, she pressed the importance of security as something to be considered.<\/p>\n

\u201cPost-9\/11 wars have changed the security situation for journalists. They’re more in the line of fire, targets for kidnapping, all that sort of stuff,\u201d she said. \u201cCan the company that you\u2019re freelancing for sponsor you? Will they give you security insurance? What if you\u2019re kidnapped, who is going to speak out for you?\u201d<\/p>\n

Plett Usher’s career didn\u2019t just fall into her lap. She put herself out there and made it happen for herself by staying open-minded. She urges students or recent graduates to just try things out \u2013 especially if they are not quite sure what they want to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cGo for a month. Put your feet in and see what the situation is and then come back,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

See some of Plett Usher\u2019s reporting at bbc.com\/news<\/a>\u00a0or follow her on Twitter @BBCBarbaraPlett<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Want to know what other journalism alumni are doing? Check out some of their profiles here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jena Lynde-Smith Going and doing something is always worth doing \u2013 but it\u2019s not uncomplicated This the advice that journalism alumna, Barbara Plett Usher, has for students who may want to pursue a job\u00a0 reporting abroad. Plett Usher visited Carleton recently to present her lecture Upset or Reset: Trump\u2019s Middle East Parameters. She assessed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nFrom BJ to foreign correspondent: advice from a journalism alumna | School of Journalism and Communication<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Jena Lynde-Smith Going and doing something is always worth doing \u2013 but it\u2019s not uncomplicated This the advice that journalism alumna, Barbara Plett\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/sjc\/2019\/from-bj-to-foreign-correspondent-advice-from-a-journalism-alumna\/\" 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