Short description:

This book reveals that "fixers"?local experts on whom foreign correspondents rely?play a much more significant role in international television newsgathering than has been documented or understood.

Long description:

This book reveals that 'fixers'?local experts on whom foreign correspondents rely?play a much more significant role in international television newsgathering than has been documented or understood. Murrell explores the frames though which international reporting has traditionally been analysed and then shows that fixers, who have largely been dismissed by scholars as 'logistical aides', are in fact central to the day-to-day decision-making that takes place on-the-road. Murrell looks at why and how fixers are selected and what their significance is to foreign correspondence. She asks if fixers help introduce a local perspective into the international news agenda, or if fixers are simply ?People Like Us? (PLU). Also included are in-depth case studies of correspondents in Iraq and Indonesia.

"The book throws light on a little researched area of foreign reporting... As a former journalist-turned-academic Murrell brings to the book an intimate knowledge of the ways and means of news gathering."
Yoel Cohen, Ariel University, Israel, Communication Trends

"Colleen Murrell thoroughly and thoughtfully addresses the role of the ?fixer,? an integral player in international news coverage whose work does much to shape how global news audiences see the world." Philip Seib, University of Southern California, USA

Table of Contents:

1. The Changing Nature of Foreign Correspondence  2. The Culture of Foreign Correspondents  3. The Journalistic Field of International Newsgathering: Theories and Methodologies  4. Why Do Correspondents need Fixers?  5. How Do Correspondents use Fixers?  6. Case Study: Iraq  7. Case Study: Indonesia  8. Conclusion