Reporting, Reporting . . . And Blogging About Reporting

Written by Andrew Marshall

Posted on 8 March 2010

Above my desk in Bangkok I have that quote by Mark Twain: “A journalist is a reporter out of a job.” I put it there to remind me that reporting—seeking truths, extracting facts, bearing witness—is the beating heart of my profession. It also helps explain why it took me so long—years, in fact—to start this blog.

I have worked from dozens of countries for scores of newspapers and magazines. My job is varied and rewarding and not always poorly paid. Foreign reporting is, as the award-winning British journalist Alex Renton once noted, one of the 20th century’s last glamour professions.

A century later, that glamour is fading. Foreign corresponding (what a Victorian phrase!) is a highly specialized corner of a field which is, if not dying, then condemned to death by many people. Once, it was crowded and competitive out here. Now it’s starting to feel a bit lonely.

Everywhere foreign bureaux are closing. Foreign desks have been eviscerated by conscienceless beancounters with sharpened ice-cream scoops. Only the biggest publications have more than a handful of correspondents covering all of Asia—that is, half of humanity. Gaze out from the bar of any foreign correspondents’ club in the region and what do you see? An ocean of grey hair and bald heads—mine included.

These days, Twain might say, a blogger is a reporter out of a job.

But while mainstream forms of media are dying, attendance at many American and British journalism schools is up. This inexplicable (and possibly short-lived) spike in interest is one reason I decided to start a blog about Thailand, Asia and the world of foreign reporting.

My ambitions are pretty humble. Blogging is like exercise, I’m told: if you don’t do it regularly, you start to feel flabby and disgusted with yourself. My aim is to reflect upon what I do and how I do it. If possible, I’ll blog from the road while on assignment. My intended readers are not so much established journalists and photojournalists—although I really welcome their readership and comments—but the reporters I hope are snapping at our heels.

Here’s another quote for above my desk. The legendary Harold Evans, former editor of The Times (and current husband of Tina Brown of The Daily Beast), said recently: “The bedrock of journalism remains reporting, reporting, reporting.”

So, here goes: reporting, reporting . . . and blogging about reporting.

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