Being a foreign correspondent is up there with astronaut, ballerina and pop star as many people's childhood "dream job" (it was for me, at least). The idea of travelling to far-flung lands to report on era-defining events seems impossibly glamorous and rewarding, not to mention exciting. But as with most highly coveted, prestigious careers, the day-to-day reality is far from a walk in the park: life-or-death scenarios, extended periods away from home and a whole lot of waiting around.
Historically, foreign correspondence has been dominated by men. There were notable exceptions, of course (Martha Gellhorn and Clare Hollingworth among them), but during the 19th and 20th centuries, female foreign and war reporters were few and far between. Things are different now, thanks to the likes of Kate Adie, Christiane Amanpour, Janine di Giovanni and the late Marie Colvin, who broke the glass ceiling for a new generation of women. Some may argue that gender is irrelevant to the job – that the strength of your work is all that counts – but it is different for women in this line of work. Women are still second-class citizens in much of the world, which can change the dynamic of interactions; statistically, they're at a greater risk of violence, including sexual violence; and, given that women are still predominately the primary caregivers, it can be difficult to have a family without additional help, due to the travelling involved.
But as the correspondents we hear from in the following slides will elaborate, the benefits of having women on the front lines are legion. They can bring new stories and perspectives to light, communicate with those who may not feel comfortable speaking to a man, and illuminate previously unspoken details. Arguably, as geopolitical tensions enter a new, unpredictable phase, their presence has never been more crucial.
Clarissa Ward is a senior international correspondent for CNN. She has been a foreign correspondent for 12 years and has been based in Beirut, Baghdad, Moscow, Beijing and London. She has reported from "too many countries to count", including Syria, Jordan, Afghanistan, Georgia, Egypt, Turkey, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, South Africa, Sudan, France, Spain, Italy, Ukraine, Greenland, Norway, India and Pakistan.
What first drew you to the job?
It probably sounds a bit clichéd, but 9/11 happened at the beginning of my senior year of college and from that moment on, I became fixated on following this path. I wanted to understand the world better and wanted to improve communication between different cultures and people and places. My father moved to Hong Kong when I was 14, so I'd been exposed to a lot of travel from a young age. That, combined with a love of languages and storytelling, made it a natural fit.
Where and when have you felt most unsafe? Was it at all related to your gender?
I've felt unsafe many times in my career. I felt particularly unsafe during a triple suicide car bomb attack on our hotel in Baghdad when I was 25. That was the first time I really understood that this wasn't abstract, that people get killed during this line of work.
Much later, I was taken by a group of young pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine. My crew and I were blindfolded and my security guard was beaten up and we were driven for what felt like forever. One by one, we were taken off this bus and told to be silent, so it was no longer possible to gauge if my crew were still around me. We were led off individually and I remember a guy making me put my hands up against the wall and touching my ass and then taking my earrings and all my jewellery off in a way that made me very scared of a potential sexual assault. My cameraman – whom I couldn't see because we were blindfolded – was actually next to me with his hands against the wall and he stretched his pinky out really far so that it just touched my hand. This tiny gesture was so reassuring and comforting.
Would you say it's easier or more difficult to build rapport and conduct interviews in certain situations because you're a woman?
It can be easier to put people at ease as a woman. It can be easier to disarm and charm. Of course, in many conservative societies, the only way to interview or talk to women is if you are a woman. At the same time, there are plenty of situations in which a man will not feel comfortable with the optics of talking to a woman and so then you just have to bite your lip. It can be extremely frustrating to be discriminated against because of your gender and it does happen, but being a woman can also work to your advantage.
In general, would you say being a woman is an advantage or disadvantage in the job? Or does it make no difference?
I find it to be an advantage. In Afghanistan, some men jokingly call Western women the 'third sex'. We're treated with the respect and gentleness that they treat their women, but we're not bound by the same conservative restrictions. In Syria, I've been able to put on a headscarf and travel undercover. I'm less likely to be stopped at a checkpoint. In general, I'm often perceived as less of a threat. Plus, I have access to 50% of the population that my male colleagues do not.
Do you believe your work would be received any differently if you were a man?
I feel I've been treated in a fair way based on the merits of my work. I've seen situations in which my female colleagues in other countries don't get paid as well as their male counterparts – most recently the big BBC pay scandal. But I'm fortunate not to have experienced that kind of thing.
Have you ever felt pressure to report or work in a particular way because of the male dominance of the industry?
I think there's a certain pressure in war zones not to be too much of a delicate flower – to be tough – but I don't think that's so much about gender as it is the nature of the job. It requires grit, strength, patience and sometimes real guts. It's not glamorous – though it's sometimes portrayed that way – and it can take a real toll. It's OK to let it all out when you're at home, but when you're in the field you need to be like a surgeon in an ER – to act like a pro, keep it together and get through it. There's a stereotype that women are more emotional, that they're weaker, that they can't carry the heavy equipment. I'm conscious of that and keen to rebut it through my behaviour, but at the same time, I'm comfortable admitting that men and women aren't exactly the same – just as all people aren't all the same.
What are the biggest misconceptions about being a foreign correspondent?
That it's all glamorous and exciting. 90% of the job is travelling long distances to uncomfortable places and waiting days to get one small part of what you need. And it's usually hard work – long days, little sleep, crappy food. But the thing that people really don't understand, that it's impossible to understand if you haven't been through it, is that there's nothing glamorous about war, looking at a dead child, watching his or her mother weep her heart out. There's nothing cool about being scared to death, about trying to make sensible decisions in life-or-death situations. There's nothing exciting about being shelled, bombed or shot at. I really believe it's important work but I don't like to see it glamorised.
Why do you believe there aren't more female foreign correspondents?
There are a lot of incredibly smart and brave women doing foreign correspondence. Twenty years ago it was a different landscape. I'd like to see more female camera operators, though. We still have a way to go on that front.
Do you believe it's important for there to be women reporting on the front lines?
Absolutely – we provide a different context and different vantage point. We have access to half of the population that our male colleagues often don't. We sit in the kitchen in Syria and see the women rocking back and forth in the foetal position as bombs rain down. The men meanwhile are smoking and bickering next door. We often get a broader picture. I hope one day it will be so commonplace that it will no longer even be a curiosity or talking point.
Jomana Karadsheh is a correspondent for CNN covering the Middle East. She has been a foreign correspondent since 2005 and has spent most time covering the Middle East (Iraq) and north Africa (Libya).
What first drew you to the job?
I've wanted to be a journalist for as long as I can remember. I was the kid with a Time magazine subscription. I was the 14-year-old who would constantly send letters to the editor about current affairs and social issues in Jordan, staying up past my bedtime to use my dad’s fax machine. In my family, we had CNN and the BBC on when we'd wake up and before we’d go to bed, so the news was a big part of my life as a child. My mother was one of Jordan’s first female news anchors and was known for presenting Jordan’s main English language news in the 1970s, so her career may have also played a role. But I never thought of getting into TV news and that's why I studied print journalism.
Where and when have you felt most unsafe? Was it at all related to your gender?
In Egypt in 2011. Covering the Egyptian revolution was terrifying both because I was a woman and a journalist. Thugs were targeting journalists and many women were sexually assaulted – something that kept me awake at night. Mob violence is truly one of the scariest things I've ever witnessed and experienced. I remember my colleague Arwa Damon looking at me – in Cairo, as hundreds of pro-regime thugs were streaming towards our hotel – and saying she'd never seen me so scared and pale.
Would you say it's easier or more difficult to build rapport and conduct interviews in certain situations because you're a woman?
It depends on where you're working. In the Middle East I think being a female journalist helps when interviewing other women, especially in more conservative areas where women may open up and speak more freely and comfortably with another woman. One example was an exclusive interview I conducted in Libya in 2013 with the wife of former al-Qaeda leader Abu Anas al-Libi who was captured by US special forces in a raid on his Tripoli neighbourhood. His sons spoke to many of the journalists who showed up at the family home, but me being a woman may have been one of the reasons the wife agreed to talk to us. However, I'm also sure there are cases where it's more difficult in conservative areas to interview men because the journalist is female, so it probably works both ways.
In general, would you say being a woman is an advantage or disadvantage in the job? Or does it make no difference?
I don’t think of it as an advantage or a disadvantage. I don’t think at this time and age it makes a difference, but I do think some great female journalists broke boundaries and made it possible for my generation to do what we do now.
Do you believe your work would be received any differently if you were a man?
I've never felt that colleagues get more recognition if they're men. I've always felt that we're judged on the work we do – those who work hard and do compelling journalism are always recognised at CNN, whether male or female. I've never felt that gender was a basis for recognition.
Have you ever felt pressure to report or work in a particular way because of the male dominance of the industry?
I've never personally felt that.
What are the biggest misconceptions about being a foreign correspondent?
People think all foreign correspondents are reckless and gung-ho and would do anything to get a story.
Why do you believe there aren't more female foreign correspondents? What are the main factors putting women off?
Whether you're a man or a woman, being a foreign correspondent isn't easy. But from my experience, it gets even harder when you're a mother and that might be something some women consider when they make their choices. Journalists are passionate by nature and we fully commit ourselves to many of the stories we cover, which makes it challenging to have the right work and personal life balance. I'm fortunate to have an extremely supportive husband who steps in to fill the void for our 2-year-old when I travel. But being away from your family, especially a young child, for long periods of time is one of the hardest things about our job.
Do you believe it's important for there to be women reporting on the front lines?
It's important because I don’t see a reason why gender should hold women back from doing what their male colleagues do. I don’t think gender should be a factor in deciding what women can report on. I also think female and male reporters may pick up on different things when it comes to the more in-depth side of warzone reporting – men and women may, at times, look at things from different angles and that could bring different perspectives.
Arwa Damon is a senior international correspondent for CNN with over a decade of experience in the industry. She began as a freelance producer in Iraq in 2003 and started going on air for CNN in 2006. She has reported from countries all over the world, including Iraq, Syria, Libya, Egypt, Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa.
What first drew you to the job?
I'm Syrian-American and an Arabic speaker. Post 9/11, especially as the US was gearing up for war in Iraq, I perhaps naively felt that I could help build cross-cultural bridges and understanding, given my background.
Where and when have you felt most unsafe? Was it at all related to your gender?
When we were under siege by ISIS for 28 hours after the Iraqi counterterrorism unit with which we were embedded came under attack. For the first time I truly thought that was it. But I felt most unsafe because of my gender when we were reporting from Egypt, just as Mubarak fell. The atmosphere in Tahrir Square changed that night. I remember walking around with my cameraman and being surrounded by a couple of guys and I had an uneasy feeling in my gut. And now we know that later that night, a number of women were sexually assaulted. I went back to Egypt again, during the demonstrations after Morsi was removed from office. I find the crowds in Egypt terrifying – especially given what has happened to my female colleagues and other women in Egypt.
Would you say it's easier or more difficult to build rapport and conduct interviews in certain situations because you're a woman?
I think it's much easier. Our job is very invasive – often you're asking complete strangers to bare their souls, to talk about experiences we can't even begin to fathom. People, generally speaking, have a tendency to be more relaxed around women. But it's also about the individual and how you approach the person you want to talk to.
In general, would you say being a woman is an advantage or disadvantage in the job? Or does it make no difference?
I've found it to be an advantage. In Syria or Iraq, for example, I can drink tea with the men, go to the front lines with the fighters and then go into rooms with women and children and speak to them.
Do you believe your work would be received any differently if you were a man?
I don't think it would have made a difference. But that's also because of who I work for – the generation of women before me broke the glass ceiling.
Have you ever felt pressure to report or work in a particular way because of the male dominance of the industry?
Nope.
What are the biggest misconceptions about being a foreign correspondent?
Probably that the job is glamorous – it's not. Or that we're somehow fearless – I'm not. Or that we think we're invisible – I don't. Or that we're adrenaline junkies – I'm not.
Why do you believe there aren't more female foreign correspondents?
There are a lot of female foreign correspondents out there – especially among Western outlets. I'd say there are as many women as there are men, more or less, for both TV and print. I don't identify as a 'female correspondent'. I am a 'correspondent'. Like I said, I do feel I'm fortunate in that the previous generation broke the glass ceiling.
Do you believe it's important for there to be women reporting on the front lines?
It's important for journalists to be reporting from the front lines. Practically speaking, do we need to deal with dynamics that our male colleagues don't? Yes, of course. Do we need to be more, or at least to a certain degree, situationally aware of what we're walking into? Yes. But that's a reality we have to deal with – not just on the front lines, but in life.
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