Covering Pyongyang and Tehran From London: Networked Journalism of Two Virtual Foreign Bureaus

• In Event: ICA Plenary Interactive Paper/Poster Session I
  In Interactive Paper Session: Journalism Studies Interactive Poster Session

Abstract

Using ethnography and in-depth interviews, this article looks into journalistic production at two independent foreign news outlets that cover North Korea and Iran from London, which I call “virtual foreign bureaus” (VFBs). First, I explore the centrality of a global network, which enables VFBs to attain speed, depth and accuracy on a shoestring. VFBs have learned to take advantage of physical distance and time difference, considered obstacles by traditional foreign correspondents. Second, I discover that, as a result of such production routines, coverage by VFBs skews heavily towards “soft news” that offer a pictorial account of everyday lives of people. Third, I analyze the tension between partnership and outsourcing in the VFBs’ relationship with elite media outlets, which often provides exposure, money and prestige to the VFBs.

Author

• Soomin Seo, Columbia University