The new foreign correspondent at work - new RISJ Report

30 Jun 2011

This new RISJ report examines the Sudanese-national journalists who provided an important portion of the global news coverage on the crisis in Darfur.Despite the importance of local-nationals journalists to the global news industry, little is known about how these journalists operate or the factors that influence them in the field. Drawing on interviews and content analysis, this report shows that Sudanese-national and Western-born foreign correspondents differed in a number of important ways. Sudanese foreign correspondents worked in greater fear of the Sudanese government and they did not valorise 'watchdog journalism'. These findings are important: the sole correspondents at several major international newswires were Sudanese nationals, and these journalists avoided stories that were critical of the Sudanese Government; their articles were then widely disseminated around the world. The results raise serious issues for outlets that manage stringer networks, and points to a potential crisis in the discursive nature of contemporary international news.