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

Alan Goodman (Author), John D. Pollack (Author), Wolf Blitzer (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 15, 1997

A cub reporter need not spend years struggling to land a coveted job on the foreign desk. Technology's advances and major media cost cutting have cleared the way for enterprising young journalists to make it as freelance foreign correspondents. This step-by-step primer covers everything from choosing a region to staying ten steps ahead of the pack. Anecdotes from dozens of successful freelancers based all over the world reveal potential triumphs and pitfalls of the job.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

So you want to be Edward R. Murrow. Or maybe the James Woods character in Salvador. Either way, you have a hankering for intrigue, exotic locales, hotel rooms, and shrapnel. This is your book. Current and former foreign correspondents Al Goodman and John Pollack show how to shave years off your "rise" to global reporting by simply bypassing traditional stateside news employment, picking your destination, and beginning work as a stringer--which can lead to career-making assignments in times of crisis. Amazon.com's international audience can consider coming to America to try to make sense of this place.

From Booklist

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

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Holt Paperbacks; 1st edition (May 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805048421
• ISBN-13: 978-0805048421
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #871,439 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Practical and informative, October 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The World on a String: How to Become a Freelance Foreign Correspondent (Paperback)

Goodman tackles a broad subject with a concise eye for the practical approach to becoming a freelance foreign correpondent. He also might make it sound a little too easy, but I think his heart is in the right place and most of the book is realistic about what steps you should take before making the leap into the correspondent ring. Though still a college student, I have used much of Goodman's advice toward my goal of becoming a foreign correspondent by preparing here on the home front before embarking after graduation. Goodman focus on this side of the issue, preparing relentlessly before you go, is probably the biggest factor in sucess or failure in making the freelance leap work. Easy to read, full of helpful info -- though I wish it could be longer, it goes a long way in what it has.

5 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very practical, good information, October 15, 2000

By 

S. E. G. Gomez "crazyforbooks" (San Antonio, TX) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The World on a String: How to Become a Freelance Foreign Correspondent (Paperback)

As a journalism myself when I first buy this book I didnt expect the things I got at the end of it. Even that the book concentrates more in the cases of war correspondants, in the way the book is written we can use those examples in our careers even do that we're not working in the war zone by the time. The authors give the readers all the information he or she might need when they decide to break into freelancing. The book is very easy to read and when you finish with it you realize you do it rapidly and you dont get bored or even tired.