Inside the mind of foreign correspondents
They are to this day, the very epitome of what the ´óÏó´«Ã½ does best and a symbol of the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s global mission: to provide impartial, judicious, clear analysis of what's going on in the four corners of the planet.
And this week on Over To You I talk to three of this strange breed known as foreign correspondents: Allan Little, now a roving "Special Correspondent" but formerly of the parishes of Johannesburg, Paris and Moscow as well as being a war-zone veteran; Emma Jane Kirby, currently Paris correspondent but previously posted to Geneva and Brussels; and Natalia Antelava, formerly Central Asia Correspondent, now based in Beirut but when we spoke to her in the midst of covering a heavy terrorist bombing incident in Baghdad.
And what a fascinating insight this conversation provided too.
Allan has witnessed Velvet revolutions, Gulf Wars and Balkan conflicts and has strong views on the ethics of war-zone reporting.
Natalia is originally Georgian, not British and she sheds light on why dangerous places hold a strange fascination for reporters like her. While Emma Jane explains how she got one of the most memorable interviews of her career with a woman who had chosen to end her life at the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland.
Listeners posed a variety of questions - from how do you know who to contact when you land in a strange situation in order to start reporting? To what's the effect on your mental and emotional state and family life?
And the answers were illuminating. So please give the programme a listen and let us know your reactions.
I have often wondered if foreign correspondents have the same level of humility as the rest of us - whether their ego drives them into gung-ho behaviour that isn't necessarily to anyone's benefit except their own careers?
I needn't have worried. Three more sensitive and thoughtful people you couldn't hope to meet.
Rajan Datar is the Presenter, Over To You.
Over
To You is your chance to have your say about the ´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service and
its programmes. It airs at 10:40 and 23:40 every Saturday, and atÌý02:40 on Sunday (GMT).Ìý
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Comment number 1.
At 24th Dec 2009, voice_germany wrote:I do appreciate what you call the global mission of the ´óÏó´«Ã½. I view it also as an important source of information and perspective in comparison to the views of the media in my country. Let me just put this into the wider perspective that independent sources of information play an important in a democracy as they cover up things and backgrounds. So different sources of media might correct one-sided views.
Last but nost least, the media are said to be a power of themselves in a democracy as they cover up and controll political actions and backgrounds. No wonder that in a dictatorship that isn´t the case because there is no plurality of media and views and there is often limited access to the internet for example.
Well done!
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Comment number 2.
At 31st Dec 2009, krishnamurthi ramachandran wrote:Dear ´óÏó´«Ã½ Team,
Thanks for appointing or restructuring of your foreign news for viewers and users of this news channels.
Covering,listening and watching of semi known countries and reporting to us are really amazing and willing to give more and more news to us.
Thrilling and interesting and adventurous jobs.
I request to all these foreign correspondents to go to many unknown areas,understand their day today living,their standard of living,their cultural activities and their improbable things from time to time to us.
A Very happy new year,2010 to ´óÏó´«Ã½ management,editors,news readers,photo journalists, specialists in many fields, fast track news anchors ,staff,members,and users of this world well known news channels.
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