WASHINGTON, DC. Day 13 of 40 — Janet Jarman (pictured here) is one of the freelance journalists featured in my upcoming documentary series, FREELANCERS with Bill Gentile. The global series is testament to the dedicated men and women who scour the earth — without the support or security that staff journalists typically enjoy — searching […]
WASHINGTON, DC, Day 11 of 40 – Especially when I look back at some of the black and white images made when I first started in this profession, I see once again how it’s technology that has paved the way for the new breed of freelance foreign correspondent. In the 1970s and 80s when I […]
WASHINGTON, DC, Day 10 of 40 — Still asleep, the War Room is strewn with remnants of our struggle to fund post-production of our documentary series, “FREELANCERS.” Computers, charts, calendars listing goals and deadlines, strategy, offensive and counter-offensive. It all takes place here. We scored a significant victory yesterday: We hit the 25 percent mark […]
WASHINGTON, DC, Day 9 of 40 — As this article points out, the craft of conflict coverage is more dangerous than ever before. Despite this, into the fray go many freelancers who, like myself four decades ago, seek to take part in the broad conversation that is journalism — and to establish themselves as protagonists […]
WASHINGTON, DC, Day 8 of 40 — This is what “freelancing” looked like in the 1980s. No body armor. No helmet. And moving with great freedom among combatants on each side of the conflict. We enjoyed relative immunity from intentional violence. I stress “relative immunity” from “intentional” violence. Too many of my friends and colleagues […]
WASHINGTON, DC, Day 7 of 40 – I’ve never served in the military. But since my earliest days of freelancing in Central America to more recent days of freelancing in Iraq and Afghanistan, I’ve shared the experience of soldiering with countless members of numerous armed forces in many countries around the world. On this, Veteran’s […]