FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE IN THE AGE OF TRUMP _______________________________________ A Project Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School at the University of Missouri-Columbia _______________________________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts _____________________________________________________ by JAIME DUNAWAY Frederick Cropp, Project Chair Beverly Horvit Barbara Cochran May 2018 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Fritz Cropp for his encouragement and reassurance when I struggled to believe this project would be completed. I also want to thank Beverly Horvit, whose teaching inspired many of the ideas discussed in this analysis. She was always a knowledgeable resource for my questions. Thanks to both of you for helping me combine my two passions, journalism and international relations. And Barbara Cochran, who took the idea for this project and helped me refine it into something much better. It has been a pleasure working with this committee, and I have learned so much from their insight and guidance. Finally, I would like to thank the Missouri School of Journalism, which has provided me with countless invaluable educational opportunities and practical skills that I will confidently take with me into the workforce. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………… ii Chapter 1. Introduction…………………...……………………………………………..1 2. Activity Log………………………………………………………………... .5 3. Evaluation………………………………………………………………......21 4. Physical Evidence……………………………………………………..........27 5. Analysis………………………………………………………………….....58 References………………………………………………………………………......77 Appendix A: Interview Transcripts………………………………………........……78 Appendix B: Copy of Proposal…………………………………………………….112 iii Chapter 1: Introduction I went to prison the summer after my junior year of college. It was a Bolivian prison, to be exact, and it was notorious for allowing children to live inside its walls with parents locked up alongside killers, rapists, and other violent criminals. It was a story I had stumbled upon while participating in an international reporting trip through the University of Arkansas. Although intense, reporting that story was one of the most rewarding and formative experiences of my journalism career. I had long considered marrying my two passions, journalism and international relations, but had never had the opportunity to do so until that trip. It was the decision to continue on that career path that ultimately led me to the University of Missouri, where I hoped to learn more about international journalism and gain the necessary skills to successfully report abroad. While obtaining my graduate degree at Missouri, I centered my plan of study on international journalism. I completed multiple theory-based classes to immerse myself in broader discussions about the role of international news and foreign correspondence in a changing media environment. Through that experience, I became more familiar with how foreign stories enter the international news flow and the barriers foreign correspondents encounter while trying to do their jobs. In discussing those topics – as well as the dangers of parachute journalism, the role of fixers, and international news organizations’ changing business models – I gained a solid understanding of the deeper issues relevant to international journalism. Many foreign reporters are often required to make difficult decisions quickly in the field, so I thought it was imperative to know and think about those concepts beforehand in a safe environment. 1 My educational experience also emphasized the practical aspects of foreign reporting, and I took advantage of several opportunities to get hands-on experience producing international work. One of the most valuable experiences was reporting abroad in South Africa, where I investigated the contentious issue of racial quotas imposed on the national rugby team. It was a wonderful opportunity to put in practice the concepts I had learned in class. How was my inherent Western bias coloring my perception of the issue? Were my sources diverse? Was I covering not only both ends of the spectrum, but also everything in between? I believe my cognizance of those important questions led to a fair and balanced story about a problem that is anything but black and white. However, it was the experience of working on an international story remotely in the United States with a counterpart in India that got me thinking about how I could continue to report global stories from home. International reporting jobs are scarce because of shrinking budgets that have forced many news outlets to shut or reduce the size of their foreign bureaus. And the instability of freelance work always made me nervous. But in working on the project, about the booming yoga industry, I learned that technology makes it easier for reporters in different countries to collaborate on investigative pieces. I couldn’t help but wonder how many other reporters around the world were also using emerging technology to produce thoughtful and engaging pieces for an international audience. I began to consider how I could incorporate that question into my graduate research project. Leave it to Donald Trump to ruin the best-laid plans. Before and after his election in 2016, his antagonistic rhetoric toward journalists created a host of new problems for reporters. Many people questioned what his election would mean for journalists in terms 2 of access, but for the most part, they have been allowed to continue working – albeit much harder and longer to keep up with the amount of news coming out of Trump’s chaotic administration. In all the speculation, very little seemed to focus on how Trump’s election would affect foreign correspondents and international reporting. Would foreign reporters be banned from attending press briefings like they were barred from attending his campaign rallies? Would Trump’s funding cuts to the State Department – which provides foreign correspondents with credentials, special press briefings, and reporting trips – affect their work? With a head full of questions, I decided to modify my professional project to find out how international journalists used technology and collaboration to cover the first year of the Trump administration. It is my hope that this project will offer a critical look at how foreign correspondence has changed since the 2016 election and provide best practices that will help foreign reporters overcome the obstacles of reporting on the Trump administration. My professional goal is to become a journalist who writes frequently about international affairs and foreign policy. Eventually, I would like to earn the opportunity to report abroad on short-term projects or even work full time as a journalist in another country. This research project gave me the opportunity to take a step back from the fast- paced world of daily journalism and examine more closely how foreign correspondents complete their work. This project has furthered my career goals by not only connecting me with international journalists, whom I interviewed for this project, but also in furthering my understanding of how international journalism is practiced on a daily basis. To become an international journalist, I need to realize the unique challenges foreign correspondents face and discover how to overcome them. Learning about their daily 3 routines and the practical ways in which they approach their job has been an invaluable source of information as I start down this challenging career path. 4 Chapter 2: Activity Log Field Notes Week 1 Hello committee members, I’ve been in D.C. for a week, and I start my internship at Slate on Monday, Jan. 22. They launched a new content management system this week, so the internship coordinator, Megan Wiegand, thought it would be best to start a week later so she’d have more time to devote to my training. In my initial interview with Megan, she said the intern rotates through Slate’s various beats, such as politics, culture, technology, etc. I think it will be a great opportunity to get a lot of clips and write about a variety of subjects. I’m hoping to help with some sports coverage, too, especially when the Olympics start in a couple weeks. I’ve stayed busy filling out the onboarding paperwork electronically from home. Hopefully that will make my first day go smoothly. I’ve also been reading Slate’s content every day and thinking of possible story ideas to pitch. I’m a little nervous about writing stories with so much commentary and analysis. Slate’s voice is very different from the neutral tone I was taught in journalism school. I know I’ll get the hang of it eventually. It will just be an adjustment. The first seminar was yesterday. It was good to see everyone and get the syllabus with the schedule for the semester. One thing I found really helpful was the talk with Adam Aton and Annie Rees, who did the program in previous semesters. Hearing about Annie’s experience was especially helpful because she worked at Talking Points Memo, which is a more opinionated news outlet like Slate. She had some good advice about how to work in that environment and helped ease some of my concerns. Next week I’m going to start compiling a list of foreign journalists whom I could email about interviewing for my project. When I went to the National Press Building for seminar, I saw a couple foreign news outlets that could work, so that might be a good place to start. Meanwhile, I’ve moved into my new house, learned the bus and metro routes I’ll use on a daily basis and walked around the National Mall. I’ve enjoyed the time to settle into my surroundings at a more leisurely pace, but I’m ready to get started and get into a routine. Until next time, Jaime 5 Field Notes Week 2 Hi committee members, It was great to get started at my internship this week. The first day was basically orientation. I learned how to upload stories and met the staff. Everyone has been extremely friendly and helpful.