I am a 28-year-old reporter at a daily newspaper in Ottawa, Canada. I have worked at this paper for nearly five years and before that at various other newspapers in Ontario.
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Although I enjoy what I do, I have always longed to travel and work as a correspondent. I would be more than willing to enter a conflict zone if it meant getting to the heart of a story. The problem is that at my paper there are no opportunities of that nature, and I don't foresee any coming in the near future.
I have applied to other news outlets that do offer that kind of opportunity, but many are not looking for reporters at this point in time. Do you have any suggestions about how I would go about getting one of these postings?
Leigh
The best opportunities to do the kind of reporting you want are as a foreign correspondent or as a local reporter assigned to follow members of the community into conflict.
Neither opportunity seems likely for you.
Working your way into a paper that does foreign reporting -- and then actually getting one of those rare spots -- seems like a long shot.
Look at applying for work in a foreign country at an English-language medium. Your skills could be valuable there, and the job could immerse you in something new.
Friends with good English have landed jobs -- at least for a few months -- with
The Cambodia Daily, the
China Daily (no connection) and
The Korea Times.
Coming Tuesday: It's finally time to get back to that original love of journalism and to jump back into it. But the options seem to be limited.
A few weeks back we published a piece by Jeff...
