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May 2007 - Posts

Wednesday, May 23, 2007 6:18 AM

How (not) to write a China article

Sinocidal (a.k.a. "Five guys hanging around in China") has a great post today by blogger ChouChou about how to write a China article. Quick summary:Title: China/The Dragon/The East/1.3 Billion People/Red Star  + Rises/Century/Awakes/Stirs/Does DallasInterview
posted by MariaTrombly | 2 Comments
Wednesday, May 23, 2007 5:18 AM

How to avoid paying bribes

At lunch today I had a nice chat with a lawyer friend about paying bribes. Now, I'm not about to comment on this issue in China (except to say that, for me at least, it hasn't come up).But I'll share a bit of my experience in Russia and the former Soviet
posted by MariaTrombly | 0 Comments
Tuesday, May 22, 2007 4:02 AM

You don't need to fly around the world to edit for a China pub, or, Reverse outsourcing

There is a shortage of English-language writers and copyeditors in China.Especially experienced ones. The reason is that expats typically don't stay in China for a long time - it's stressful. They start missing their friends and parents. They want to
posted by MariaTrombly | 0 Comments
Monday, May 21, 2007 12:54 PM

Email interviews a boon for overseas and foreign reporters

I've long thought that email interviews were the lazy man's way of researching a story. You put gother a list of questions, copy and email them to everyone who might potentially be a source -- whoever writes back, you cut-and-paste their answers into
posted by MariaTrombly | 0 Comments
Monday, May 21, 2007 12:54 PM

Email interviews a boon for overseas and foreign reporters

I've long thought that email interviews were the lazy man's way of researching a story. You put gother a list of questions, copy and email them to everyone who might potentially be a source -- whoever writes back, you cut-and-paste their answers into
posted by MariaTrombly | 0 Comments
Sunday, May 20, 2007 11:05 PM

Nepalese Journalism

Last month I received an e-mail from Dinesh Maharjan, a journalist with the National Press Club in Nepal. He is inviting us to establish a "bilateral friendship" to grow between our two organizations. "We believe that always hard work under the UNESCO
posted by AlanKania | 0 Comments
Saturday, May 19, 2007 10:02 AM

International Journalism Committee-Goals and Objectives

On a weekly basis, I've been getting e-mail from journalists from around the world -- mostly in countries with limited resources for good journalistic training. The same message comes through -- please help us.Yes, there are established universities and
posted by AlanKania | 0 Comments
Thursday, May 17, 2007 1:44 PM

Go overseas for free as a Fulbright scholar

The Fulbright folks just sent me this and asked me to talk it up. It's a great opportunity, looks great on your resume, gets you away from your ex. I suggest going to India, so you'll be prepared when your job is outsourced there.Application Deadline:
posted by MariaTrombly | 0 Comments
Thursday, May 17, 2007 6:42 AM

Looking back on the biggest mistakes of my career: Bad record-keeping

Since I'm in the process of easing out of being a journalist, and easing into being a business owner, and this is a blog about international journalism, not about entrepreneurship, I'm going to use this forum to look back on my 15-plus years in the field.Today's
posted by MariaTrombly | 0 Comments
Wednesday, May 16, 2007 2:22 PM

Taiwan, the UN, WHO, and press freedom

Sorry the first time around on this the file was one large graf.Hopefully this corrects the situation. -- DEKIf it’s May it must be time for the annual ritual of the World Health Organization to deny about 12 million people the right to hear about the
posted by DanKubiske | 0 Comments
Wednesday, May 16, 2007 6:25 AM

Both high-end and low-end reporting jobs can be outsourced

Low end reporting work: Get press release. Rewrite to AP style. Call the company involved for a follow-up quote. File.High end reporting work: Research a difficult technical, financial, regulatory, medical or scientific subject. Call a dozen experts or
posted by MariaTrombly | 0 Comments
Wednesday, May 16, 2007 3:32 AM

Shanghai Foreign Correspondents Club holds elections

Here is our new slate of leaders at the Shanghai Foreign Correspondents Club:President: Duncan Hewitt (Newsweek)Vice-President, Events:  Ola Wong (Sydsvenska Dagbladet)Vice-President, Membership:  Astrid Freyeisen (ARD German Radio)Media Representative: 
posted by MariaTrombly | 0 Comments
Wednesday, May 16, 2007 12:46 AM

International Journalism Committee

One of the challenges given to the SPJ International Journalism Committee is an opportunity to create a list of resources that many of us use to get interested in covering international news and in eventually working and/or studying abroad. These resources
posted by AlanKania | 0 Comments
Monday, May 14, 2007 4:55 AM

I don't think I'm a foreign correspondent anymore

Today, I finally realized that I'm not a journalist anymore. Just now, about five minutes ago.Great thing about keeping a blog -- years later, I'll be able to look up the exact moment at which my 15-year run as a journalist ended.This weekend, I received
posted by MariaTrombly | 0 Comments
Sunday, May 13, 2007 1:01 AM

How to get people in China to talk on the record

The most common question I get from new hires -- and other reporters new to China - is how to get people to talk on the record.Here's a typical example:Assignment: are Chinese furniture manufacturers looking to buy US distributors in order to get customers,
posted by MariaTrombly | 1 Comments
Saturday, May 12, 2007 6:29 PM

Journalism faculty, students from Croatia, Monte Negro collaborate

Hello from Dubrovnik, Croatia! I am here till July 1 as a visiting Fulbright scholar, teaching journalism at the University of Dubrovnik. I am writing to share some positive news from this area of the world.   Croatia and Monte Negro are neighboring
posted by LeeAnnePeck | 0 Comments
Friday, May 11, 2007 10:24 AM

I'm not the only one looking to hire from India

The AP ran this story yesterday --  Calif. Web site outsources reporting -- about a California online newspaper hiring reporters in India to cover local news in Pasadena. Here's a writeup of the story from Journalism.co.uk: Local news reporting outsourced
posted by MariaTrombly | 0 Comments
Friday, May 11, 2007 7:39 AM

Hiring American reporters versus Chinese and Indian

I've managed journalists from pretty much everywhere -- the US, Britain, Germany, France, Russia, Central Asia, and, now, India and China.In my experience, the differences between individual reporters far outweight the differences between countries. In
posted by MariaTrombly | 2 Comments
Friday, May 11, 2007 4:57 AM

Complaining about pay rates for freelance reporting and photography

Last night at our regular drinking get-together at Cotton's Bar, about half-a-dozen of us expat journalists got together and complained about falling rates. Well, we also had a furious argument about whether the Economist was a real news magazine or not
posted by MariaTrombly | 0 Comments
Thursday, May 10, 2007 2:07 PM

Fake Chinese reporter makes $500,000 from bribes -- and gets life

The Associated Press ran an interesting story yesterday about a Chinese crook who passed himself off as a reporter or editor from the People's Daily.  Usually these kinds of bribes are for running favorable stories, or not running stories that are
posted by MariaTrombly | 0 Comments
Thursday, May 10, 2007 8:24 AM

Why I love IDG

The great thing about journalism is that I get to tell the truth. I regularly tell people who don't believe me about instances when editors backed me up, even if it meant upsetting a source or advertiser. I haven't had a single story spiked due to advertising
posted by MariaTrombly | 0 Comments
Thursday, May 10, 2007 6:36 AM

If you're looking for a job, please don't ask me for an 'informational interview'

I interviewed a man for a job today who was Canadian-born Chinese, with decent Chinese skills and some decent journalism experience for city magazines here in China, and a business degree as well.A perfect candidate -- employers should be falling all
posted by MariaTrombly | 0 Comments
Wednesday, May 09, 2007 3:53 AM

Journalism career planning: moving from editorial to publishing

There are three possible stages in a journalist's career, and each transition is very painful and difficult. The first stage is that of the reporter. You are responsible for your own work, and nobody else's. Occasionally you work as part of a team, or
posted by MariaTrombly | 1 Comments
Tuesday, May 08, 2007 8:03 AM

Back from vacation, and back on the job

I just got back from vacation yesterday, after a week spent on a beach on Hong Kong's Lantau Island.Well, it was a vacation for my kids, at least. I spent some of my time reporting and writing articles about stock exchanges and alternative trading systems
posted by MariaTrombly | 0 Comments