THE MONTHLY NEWSLETTER OF THE OVERSEAS PRESS CLUB OF AMERICA, NEW YORK, NY • December 2014 Journalists Debate How to Improve Freelancers’ Safety Smith, founder of The EVENT RECAP Frontline Club; Ben de By Patricia Kranz Pear, editor of Channel and Millicent Teasdale 4 News (UK); Emma The OPC traveled to London to Beals, an independent participate in Part II of our series, co- multimedia journalist sponsored with the Frontline Club, covering Syria and Iraq; on how to freelance safely. On Tues- and David Williams, day, Nov. 18, OPC President Marcus deputy global news edi- Mabry joined panelists in a follow-up tor at Agence France- Patricia Kranz of a discussion that kicked off in New Presse (AFP). Left to right: Vaughan Smith, Ben de Pear, Marcus York at the end of October. The panel Beals and freelance Mabry, Emma Beals and David Williams during a addressed standards of pay, training journalists in the audi- panel in London on Nov. 18. requirements, and how to clarify the ence complained about The Syrian conflict spurred AFP responsibilities of freelancers and low pay rates and lengthy delays to develop a new approach to work- their clients. in getting paychecks. “You have to ing with freelancers. “We were some- As many major news organization pay them more than $300 for 1,000 what taken aback by the risks people close foreign bureaus, freelancers are words from Syria,” said Beals. “It’s a were willing to take,” said Williams. called on more and more to cover professional work force with unpro- Now AFP treats freelancers like a global conflicts. They face risks often fessional wages. Low wages com- member of the AFP team, with more without the structure, training and re- promise safety.” For a recent story, financial backup and safety train- sources that come with having a large she said she had to cover her expens- ing. “We will not accept production media outlet behind you. es, which were twice the rate she was from freelancers where we don’t dare “There has been a lag by news getting paid, with a promise of reim- to venture ourselves,” he said. “We organizations in protecting people in bursement months later. (Continued on Page 5) danger zones,” Mabry said. “We are working with organizations to create standards.” Expert Panel to Read 2015 Tea Leaves Other panelists were Vaughan Levi has covered a range of top- EVENT PREVIEW: Dec. 17 ics during the course of his work, What big international news from energy policy and climate Inside. stories might be in store for 2015? change to national security. Wood Book Night Preview: Roger Cohen..2 The OPC and global risk consul- has a broad background that in- tancy Control Risks are co-hosting a cludes energy security, food secu- Screening Preview: ‘Rise of ISIS’....2 breakfast panel at 7:45 a.m. at Club rity, development banking, anti-cor- Quarters on Wednesday, Dec. 17 to ruption and defense. Recap: Global Muckraking..............3 discuss views on geopolitical chal- Michael Moran, the Control Remembering Luke Somers............4 lenges and business developments Risks’ chief macro risk analyst, will that may emerge next year. present the firm’s RiskMap, its an- People Column................................6 Speakers include Michael Levi, nual survey of business risk in the director of the Center for Geoeco- coming year. Press Freedom Update..................10 nomics at the Council on Foreign Peter S. Goodman, OPC board Q&A: Chriss Swaney......................11 Relations; and Jonathan Wood, head member and editor-in-chief of the of the global issues desk for Control International Business Times, will New Books....................................12 Risks. moderate the discussion. Book Night: Roger Cohen OPC to Screen ‘Rise of ISIS’ EVENT PREVIEW: JAN. 14 EVENT PREVIEW: JAN. 22 Join us at Club Quarters on The OPC will hold a special screening of “The Rise Wednesday, Jan. 14 for a book night of ISIS,” a documentary written and produced by Martin with New York Times columnist Rog- Smith, a member of the OPC’s board of governors. A er Cohen on his upcoming memoir, Q&A with Martin will follow the hour-long screening. The Girl From Human Street. The The program, which aired on PBS’s Frontline in book follows his family’s upheaval October, investigates factors that fed the brutal re- from Lithuania to South Africa, Eng- gime’s rise, including the political chaos that ensued land, the United States and Israel as after U.S. forces pulled out of the country, and policy they face degrees of anti-Semitism and intelligence missteps that paved the way for ISIS and grapple with otherness. to gain a stronghold in Syria and Iraq. The program will begin at 6:30 p.m. The screening gets underway at Club Quarters at 6:30 p.m. A discussion with Smith will follow at 7:30 OPC MIXERS AT THE HALF KING p.m. A word of warning: This film contains graphic imagery of war and extreme violence. With two sucessful mixers under our belts, The Half King Bar and Restaurant in Chelsea has rapidly become the place to be for mem- bers and guests on OPC nights. Come and meet old and new members over cheap eats and beverages -- and bring your foreign newsie friends along as well. Our next two events are scheduled for Thurs- day, Jan. 15 and Thursday, Feb. 19. Both will get underway in the back room of the bar from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., when OPC members and guests will get a 20 percent discount on food and drink. Thanks to OPC board member Liam Stack for planning this fun event series. OVERSEAS PRESS CLUB OF AMERICA • BOARD OF GOVERNORS PRESIDENT ACTIVE BOARD Azmat Khan Martin Smith Emma Daly PAST PRESIDENTS Marcus Mabry Jacqueline Albert- Investigative Reporter President Communications EX-OFFICIO Editor-at-Large Simon BuzzFeed News Rain Media Director Michael Serrill The New York Times U.S. Bureau Chief Human Rights Watch David A. Andelman Politique Internationale Dan Klaidman Liam Stack John Corporon FIRST VICE PRESIDENT Deputy Editor Reporter Daniel Sieberg Allan Dodds Frank Calvin Sims Rukmini Callimachi Yahoo News The New York Times Senior Marketing Alexis Gelber President and CEO Foreign Head of Media Outreach William J. Holstein International House Correspondent Evelyn Leopold Seymour Topping Google Marshall Loeb The New York Times Independent Journalist Emeritus Larry Martz SECOND VICE PRESIDENT United Nations Professor of Abi Wright Roy Rowan Abigail Pesta Jane Ciabattari International Journalism Executive Director, Leonard Saffir Freelance Journalist Columnist Paul Moakley Columbia University Prizes Larry Smith BBC.com Deputy Director Graduate School Richard B. Stolley THIRD VICE PRESIDENT Photography and Charles Wallace of Journalism Pancho Bernasconi Chris Dickey Visual Enterprise Financial Writer Columbia University EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Vice President/News Foreign Editor Time magazine Awards Patricia Kranz Getty Images The Daily Beast, ASSOCIATE BOARD Paris Robert Nickelsberg MEMBERS OFFICE MANAGER TREASURER Freelance Brian I. Byrd Boots R. Duque Tim Ferguson Peter S. Goodman Photojournalist Program Officer Editor Editor-in-Chief NYS Health EDITOR Forbes Asia International Lara Setrakian Foundation Chad Bouchard Business Times Co-Founder & CEO SECRETARY News Deeply Bill Collins OPC Deidre Depke Charles Graeber Director, Public & ISSN-0738-7202 Journalist and Freelance Journalist Business Affairs Copyright © 2014 Author and Author Ford Motor Comapny Over seas Press Club of America 40 West 45 Street, New York, NY 10036 USA • Phone: (212) 626-9220 • Fax: (212) 626-9210 • Website: opcofamerica.org OPC Bulletin • December 2014 • Page 2 You are Invited: To the OPC Holiday Party Wednesday, January 7 Come join us from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Club Quarters at 40 West 45th Street. The event will be held in the dining room. The party features an open bar with wine and beer, hot and cold hors d'oeuvres, filet of Atlantic salmon, roast turkey and dessert and coffee. The cost is $30 per person. Advance Reservations Are Essential. Please call the OPC office 212-626-9220 or email [email protected]. Schiffrin Digs Up Pivotal Stories in ‘Global Muckraking’ EVENT RECAP subject. One story doesn’t make a difference. There By Chad Bouchard have to be other groups of society that really want to In Global Muckraking, Anya Schiffrin gathered change something,” she said. investigative journalism from far-flung corners into Photos of starving children in Bengal that were pub- an anthology that spans more than a century of vital lished in 1943, for example, caused public outcry and reporting. pressured Western nations to deliver food aid. On the Schiffrin, the director of the media and communica- other hand, Gareth Jones’s reporting on famine in Rus- tions specialization at Columbia University’s School of sia in the early 1930s didn’t cause much reaction abroad, International Affairs, searched dusty archives and mold- likely due to geopolitical barriers. ering newsprint to collect 47 pieces dating as far back as “Information alone is not enough. If there are huge the 1880s. She then invited 40 journalists, experts, ac- economic and political forces stopping change, informa- tivists and academics to introduce the stories and place tion doesn’t necessarily do much.” them in context. She said beginning with the earliest investigative re- She discussed the project with OPC guests during ports, she found a strong relationship between activists a book night in the dining room of Club Quarters on and journalists, and the boundary between them was of- Dec. 1. ten fuzzy. The anthology covers a vast array of muckraking In 1904, E.D. Morel published a seminal book detail- topics, including death squads, trafficking, police bru- ing brutality in the Belgian Congo called King Leopold’s tality, abuse of women, anti-colonial movements, cor- Ghost, which set in motion what Schiffrin called the ruption and famine.