Through Their Eyes: Foreign Correspondents in the United States

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Brookings Institution Press, 2005 - Political Science - 195 pages

Americans often forget that, just as they watch the world through U.S. media, they are also being watched. Foreign correspondents based in the United States report news and provide context to events that are often unfamiliar or confusing to their readers back home. Unfortunately, there has been too little thoughtful examination of the foreign press in America and its role in the world media. Through Their Eyes fills this void in the unmistakable voice of Stephen Hess, who has been reporting on reporting for over a quarter century. Globalization is shrinking the planet, making it more important than ever to know what is going on in the world and how those events are being interpreted elsewhere. September 11 was a chilling reminder that how others perceive us does matter, like it or not. Hess seeks to answer three basic yet essential journalistic questions: Who are these U.S.-based foreign correspondents? How do they operate? And perhaps most important, what do they report, and how? Informed by scores of interviews and armed with original survey research, Hess reveals the mindset of foreign correspondents from a broad sample of countries. He examines how reporting from abroad has changed over the past twenty years and addresses the daunting challenges facing these journalists, ranging from home-office politics to national stereotypes. Unique among works on the subject, this book provides an engaging and humanizing "Day in the Life " section, illustrating how foreign correspondents conduct their daily activities.This book continues the author's comprehensive Newswork series on the nexus of media, government, and politics. These five books, starting with The Washington Reporters (Brookings, 1981), have become valuable reference materials for all who seek to understand this intersection of journalism and government. Through Their Eyes furthers that rich tradition, making it essential and enjoyable reading.

 

Selected pages

Contents

Guide
1
Context
10
Then
19
Who They Are
27
Patterns
29
Irregulars
43
Hollywood
50
In America
56
Help
94
Borrowed News and the Internet
101
What They Report
107
One Day
109
Now
120
Foreign Correspondents in the United States by Place of Origin 19642000
131
Survey Questionnaire and Illustrative Responses
134
Respondents Surveys and Interviews
141

How They Work
67
Time
69
Contact
77
Access
83
Notes
150
Index
168
Copyright

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About the author (2005)

Stephen Hessis senior fellow emeritus in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution and Distinguished Research Professor of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University. He has been engaged in presidential transitions since he was a young speechwriter in the EisenhowerWhite House. He returned to the White House with President Richard Nixon, helped Jimmy Carter reorganize the Executive Office and advised the presidential transition teams of Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and GeorgeW. Bush. His numerous books include Through Their Eyes: Foreign Correspondents in the United States(Brookings, 2005) and Organizing the Presidency(Brookings, 3rd ed in 2002 with James Pfiffner).

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