Virtual Foreign Bureaus and the New Ecology of International News Soomin Seo Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy under the Executive Committee of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2016 © 2016 Soomin Seo All rights reserved ABSTRACT Virtual Foreign Bureaus and the New Ecology of International News Soomin Seo This dissertation investigates the phenomenon of the digitally native production of foreign and international news in Anglo-American media. The focus is on the news startups I am calling “virtual foreign bureaus” (VFBs), independent, professional and niche news outlets that carry out much of the reporting remotely. These news startups have increased in numbers and importance with the shutdowns of foreign bureaus in traditional news organizations. Using newsroom visits, interviews, and content analysis, I compare and contrast journalistic routines and norms of VFBs with those of traditional foreign correspondence. As organizations, VFBs are more networked and less hierarchal than traditional foreign bureaus. I find a different use of sources, with open- source Web databases, crowdsourced material, and social network sources taking precedence over traditional “human” sources, because the former are more accessible to VFBs and also seen as more verifiable than the latter. Despite these differences, I note an increasing convergence of the norms of VFBs and traditional foreign correspondence, working toward the creation of a hybrid professional identity. As organizations, VFBs are entrepreneurial, seeking to combine multiple funding streams to achieve financial independence and sustainability. They rely heavily on foundation grants and partnerships, but such relationships rarely constitute a sustainable business model. I argue that any meaningful solution to the financial woes of foreign reporting should include policy interventions and an infusion of public funds. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures: .....................................................................................................................ii Chapter 1: Introduction .......................................................................................................1 Chapter 2: A Day in the Life of Three Virtual Foreign Bureaus ......................................28 Chapter 3: Making Foreign News: Networked News Production of VFBs .......................65 Chapter 4: Funding Foreign News: The Limits of Entrepreneurship ...............................96 Chapter 5: Coverage of North Korea in NK News and Associated Press ......................129 Chapter 6: Conclusion .....................................................................................................156 Bibliography .....................................................................................................................168 Appendix ..........................................................................................................................195 i List of Figures Figure 1.1: Overview of interviewee biography .................................................................27 Figure 2.1: A Tehran Bureau story about crackdowns on cafes on January 23, 2013 ......63 Figure 2.2: A Bellingcat article on geolocation on July 15, 2014 .......................................64 Figure 3.1: A New York Times story about Iranian election on June 13, 2013 ....................94 Figure 3.2: A Tehran Bureau article about Iranian election on June 13, 20143 ...............95 Figure 3.3: An Associated Press article about building collapse in Pyongyang .................96 Figure 3.4: An NK News analysis of satellite images from North Korea ..........................97 Figure 3.5: An NK News story about North Korean official in Uganda ...........................98 Figure 4.1: Screenshot of Pay Me Please, where freelancers demand unpaid wages ......128 Figure 5.1: Softness of news at NK News and AP ...........................................................154 Figure 5.2: Breakdown of themes in NK News and AP stories .......................................155 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation would never have been possible without journalists and other media workers who agreed to be scrutinized by a researcher through good and bad times, often with a voice recorder. I first want to thank Golnoush Niknejad, whose faith and wisdom has been a major driver of my research, and who has become like a sister to me. Chad O’Carroll is another person who has graciously opened his newsroom in London, and endured more than his share of emails from me. Among the many other journalists I met for this research, I want to thank these people who have been particularly generous in sharing their insights: Haleh Anvari, Leo Byrne, Scheherezade Faramarzi, Farnaz Fassihi, Renee Feltz, Kathy Gannon, John Grisafi, Eliot Higgins, Oliver Hotham, Marketa Hulpachova, Jimin Kang, Dina Kraft, Monique Macias, Hamish Macdonald, Jina Moore, Benno Muchler, Omoyele Sowore, Paul Radu, Charles Sennott, Megan Specia, Eoghan Sweeney, Nicole Tung, and Rob York. I have been privileged to work with an amazing dissertation committee who went beyond the call of duty. Michael Schudson has been a source of endless support and intellectual guidance. Even now I cannot believe how lucky I have been to be able to learn from and work alongside him. Andie Tucher was a “Doktormutter” in the truest sense of the word, and her scholarship and mentorship is something I will aspire to as I embark on my own journey as a journalist-turned-academic. Many thanks also goes to Rodney Benson for taking me under his wings and encouraging me to be intellectually ambitious. I am also hugely grateful for the guidance of Todd Gitlin, whose help and insight has been a major part of this journey. Matt Baum first opened my eyes to the iii world of communications studies in 2008, and he continues to inspire me with his insight on media and politics, for which I am hugely grateful. I would also like to extend my thanks to other professors and scholars I have worked with. I am honored to have been a student of Herb Gans, whose seminar on fieldwork has had a transformative effect on my research. I am extremely lucky to have studied with Richard John, whose love of knowledge and intellectual inquiry is truly contagious. Jenny Mansbridge changed my life when she said yes to my request to become advisor in 2009, and I know I wouldn’t have applied to a PhD program without her encouragement. I have also learned a lot from the following professors and academics: Emily Bell, Andrea Campbell, Timothy McCarthy, Nicco Mele, Frank Moretti, Philip Napoli, Pippa Norris, Thomas Patterson, Christopher Robichaud, Anya Schiffrin, Robert Shapiro, Alisa Solomon, Johannes Urpelainen, and Claire Wardle. I also want to thank the extraordinary group of people at the communications PhD program at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, who offered me unconditional friendship, top-notch intellectual stimulation, peer therapy in form of beer, and even babysitting. Biggest credit goes to members of my dissertation writing group, who read every chapter of this work and provided comments as well as edits: Travis Mushett, smart as hell and wise beyond his years, has been with me through every twist and turn of this project. The genius Jonah Bossewitch also held my hands 24/7, offering advice and solidarity every step of the way. Ri Pierce-Grove used her talents to offer not only constructive advice but also the best cup of tea filled with love. Also, I relied way too much on Burcu Baykurt’s intellect and kindness, and can honestly say her advice has been always right. Lucas Graves has been an amazing friend and mentor. Thanks also go iv to Katie Montalbano and Hibah Hussain of the “Four Loko” cohort. I also want to thank our awesome graduates — Colin Agur, Chris Anderson, Kate Fink, Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, Ruth Palmer, Ben Peters and Julia Sonnevend — for selflessly offering advice on matters big and small. Thanks also go to current students of the program: Charles Berret, Diani Citra, Andi Dixon, Ros Donald, Tom Glaisyer, Alex Goncalves, Joscelyn Jurich, Lluis De Nadal, Tracy O’Neill, and Madiha Tahir. Last but not least, I also want to thank friends who have been there for me over the years: Lee Hye-young, Han Jukyoung, Chai Jisun, Kim Hyunjeong, Kim Ari, Kim Cheong-won, Chung Hye-jean, Hye Young You, Wonbin Kang, Sa’ed Adel Atshan, and Lauren Wechsler. Kim Hyun-kyung, Son Key-young and Park Min-hee are three senior journalists who deserve credit for having trained a clueless cub reporter more than a decade ago. I owe special thanks to Nan Kim-Paik and Peter Paik for their unwavering support all the way from Milwaukee, which ranged from reading chapters to help with establishing infant sleep patterns. Most importantly, I am immensely grateful to my parents, Kim Young-ok and Seo Kyung, for extraordinary support and inspiration. I have no doubt that I get the love of learning and research from them, and realize I will only try to emulate their achievements as scholars and parents for the rest of my life. Words cannot describe how I feel about the two men in my life, Yule Lee-Seo and Kang Won Lee. They not only took very good care of me while I was writing this dissertation, but also showered me with happiness and laughter. v DEDICATION For my grandmother Lee Yi-soon. I will never forget you. vi Chapter 1 - Introduction Virtual foreign bureaus? This dissertation is about foreign correspondence