This is a story that probably reads very differently to journalist and non-journalists. I never knew about "fixers" until I spent time in Hong Kong. It is the term of art for local reporters who are hired to do all of the work for a foreign correspondent.https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/he-showed-me-a-lawless-border-town-then-masked-gunmen-killed-him-in-front-of-his-family/2020/02/14/53693762-4eb5-11ea-967b-e074d302c7d4_story.html …
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The level of ignorance by such parachute journalists can be stunning. Often it's the local partner's job to provide a full briefing on the history, context, and politics of the region, as well as suggest story ideas. It's particularly unsettling when it happens during a tragedy.
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In Sri Lanka after the March bombing, for example, large numbers of foreign correspondents came in demanding local partners during a time of intense trauma. Remember when you read international big-name journalism that it is a fundamentally extractive industry.
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I understand in some cases that there are security concerns, or other sound reasons to keep local reporters' names out of the international press. In Hong Kong, mostly I saw the best local journalists being shut out in favor of trite, superficial coverage by celebrity names
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(My apologies, I said March Sri Lanka bombings upthread, but of course they took place on 21 April. My pre-coffee brain had them filed under 'Easter', which for some reason it refuses to accept is a mobile holiday and files under 'March').
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