So - at the behest of my parents and the encouragement of my colleagues, I am now trying to arrange to take military combat training before I go to Afghanistan. About 5 security firms in the US and UK offer this type of training. Only two of them in my time frame; and none of them in my price range. I've been quoted upwards of $4,000 for a one-week boot camp. Enter the Rory Peck Trust Fund out of the UK which offers scholarships to freelance journalists who are doing war reporting. They won't cover the whole cost, but should I be fortunate enough to get a scholarship from them, I will perhaps get about half of the amount paid. I may be looking to do a fundraiser for the rest. We will see how God provides.
Speaking of that - one way that He has already provided is this. I was praying Friday morning about whether to continue what at times seems like a crazy plan, and asking God for guidance and direction. Three hours later, I got a call from a girl who's like a sister to one of my housemates. She told me that her boyfriend, a recently retired Special Forces guy wants to support my trip by donating some of his gear to me. Now, I haven't seen it yet or tried it on, but this could be a significant blessing, if I can fit into his body armor or take away any other clothing & supplies that I might otherwise have had to pay for. I mean, he has a garage full of sets of gear for different missions, and he's retired now, so he's willing to give it to me. Unbelievable! I could have cried!
Now - it's back to finding clients for this business. This whole undertaking is a matrix of getting physically fit and mentally prepared, to researching the region & present coverage, to getting the business to underwrite the trip, to getting the right kinds of gear to be able to send back content, to regular trip logistics like flight, transport to the base from which I'll leave, a translator/fixer for that time period, VISA, plus special insurance for war reporters. Not to mention power of attorney/a will/ someone to be a go-to state-side. Two and a half months is beginning to feel like way to short of a time honestly.
But - as I take one step at a time, it continues to come together, and so I'm left believing that it is the right decision and I continue to walk forward in faith.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Saturday, May 2, 2009
I am going to Afghanistan!!!
UPDATES BEGIN
So - here begins my updates on the planning for my trip to cover the Afghan National elections as an embed with the US military. At this point, I am booked from July 27-Aug 24th with Taskforce Spartan in Wardak and Logar provinces just west of Kabul. I am going as a multi-media journalist offering online writing, online video and radio reporting. As always, I'd love to do television, but we'll see if that becomes a reality. As I have no contracts with clients yet, I can't tell you who I'll actually be reporting for, but that's the next phase - drumming up the business.
HOW DID I GET HERE?
Basically, after being laid off twice last year here in Washington, DC while still continuing to do some work for FOX News Channel as a freelance producer doing story enterprising and story planning - and while I still have another year's worth of health insurance under my belt, I have decided to take this year and take some risks, try some new things, get some new skills and do projects - professional and otherwise that I would never have a chance to do if I were still under contract. (A mediterranean cruise being chief among them.)
But back to work - one of the things I've been interested in doing is overseas work - a chance to witness a major news event. Now - Afghanistan rose to the top of my list because it's something that holds a lot of interest, a lot of intrigue and a lot of taxpayer dollars at stake, and the elections are this year so it was good timing. I began this thought process in January, and as a result have been researching and ruminating ever since.
I realize for many of you this is a new and scary idea, so I hope that this blog will give you the information you may be seeking to understand that this is a calculated risk for me, not some silly fly-by-night idea. Everything is planned and researched, and I am so blessed to have so many people to talk to about this project, and so many people to encourage me. A great team of journalists who has gone before me continues to be a tremendous asset.
MAKING CONNECTIONS
It began with mentioning the mere idea of doing this to my good pal Mollie who had worked with a local news photographer who goes overseas (Iraq and Afghanistan) as a freelance photographer, shoots video for various clients, blogs about it and in general, feeds his need for adrenaline and his need to understand something up close that local news coverage just can't satisfy. He was a huge resource early on. He provided me links to all the PAO's (Public Affairs Officers who could help me set up embeds with either the US forces or the NATO forces. This man also provided me with contact information for a non-for-profit that has a risk pool for insurance (death, dismemberment, disability) and the all-important media-letter. They are called Public Media International - www.pmi.org.
I also started the process of talking to management at FOX News Channel, my main client for work out of DC. That interview process led me to better understand what broadcast would be looking for - essentially, a one-man/woman operation who could hold down the fort and do coverage on breaking news events until the big shots show up. That never ended up working out, but it began to build my brand in the company.
Through friends and family, I started to build up contacts at CIA and Department of State for reading lists, unclassified documents and backgrounders on the history of the Afghans and their loosely configured nation. I got my library card and read a number of the books published by journalists who covered the invasion at Tora Bora, the search for Osama Bin Laden, and who offered primers on the nation itself. Some books I'd recommend: Philip Smucker's Al Qaeda's Great Escape, who broke the path that OBL took out of Afghanistan even before the US military was aware of it. The Great Game and the race for empire in Central Asia by Karl Meyer and Shareen Blair Bysac. But I'd still love more contacts if you got 'em!
Thus far, I've had no outlay of capital, but I'll be pricing the flight, the insurance, body armor, ballistic eyewear, radio gear (I'd like to offer radio reporting) MAC laptop, still camera, and I'll probably buy an inexpensive flip cam video camera which I can at least use to provide video content for my web products. So - now that I've got dates for the US Military, I've still gotta nail down my dates for an embed with NATO or ISAF (International Security Area Forces) as well as starting to really focus on how I'm going to get this product out of the country via Internet. This requires me to research the bandwith issues of an Internet that's spotty, and a cell service that is said to be everywhere but without a SAT phone, I probably wont' be able to get product out in a timely fashion, so now I'll have to price those too. If anyone has suggestions - I'm all ears!
So - thus begins a simultaenous gearup of my physical fitness as well as CPR/first-aid and a possible military training course, my studyup of the right kind of gear to purchase and just planning every last thing.
That's where I'm at right now. Thank goodness for the advice of a woman who's done this 5 times in Iraq as a freelance print and online journalist and the many others God as brought to put around me for great information and counsel. It's invaluable to know I'm not crazy....or alone.
So - here begins my updates on the planning for my trip to cover the Afghan National elections as an embed with the US military. At this point, I am booked from July 27-Aug 24th with Taskforce Spartan in Wardak and Logar provinces just west of Kabul. I am going as a multi-media journalist offering online writing, online video and radio reporting. As always, I'd love to do television, but we'll see if that becomes a reality. As I have no contracts with clients yet, I can't tell you who I'll actually be reporting for, but that's the next phase - drumming up the business.
HOW DID I GET HERE?
Basically, after being laid off twice last year here in Washington, DC while still continuing to do some work for FOX News Channel as a freelance producer doing story enterprising and story planning - and while I still have another year's worth of health insurance under my belt, I have decided to take this year and take some risks, try some new things, get some new skills and do projects - professional and otherwise that I would never have a chance to do if I were still under contract. (A mediterranean cruise being chief among them.)
But back to work - one of the things I've been interested in doing is overseas work - a chance to witness a major news event. Now - Afghanistan rose to the top of my list because it's something that holds a lot of interest, a lot of intrigue and a lot of taxpayer dollars at stake, and the elections are this year so it was good timing. I began this thought process in January, and as a result have been researching and ruminating ever since.
I realize for many of you this is a new and scary idea, so I hope that this blog will give you the information you may be seeking to understand that this is a calculated risk for me, not some silly fly-by-night idea. Everything is planned and researched, and I am so blessed to have so many people to talk to about this project, and so many people to encourage me. A great team of journalists who has gone before me continues to be a tremendous asset.
MAKING CONNECTIONS
It began with mentioning the mere idea of doing this to my good pal Mollie who had worked with a local news photographer who goes overseas (Iraq and Afghanistan) as a freelance photographer, shoots video for various clients, blogs about it and in general, feeds his need for adrenaline and his need to understand something up close that local news coverage just can't satisfy. He was a huge resource early on. He provided me links to all the PAO's (Public Affairs Officers who could help me set up embeds with either the US forces or the NATO forces. This man also provided me with contact information for a non-for-profit that has a risk pool for insurance (death, dismemberment, disability) and the all-important media-letter. They are called Public Media International - www.pmi.org.
I also started the process of talking to management at FOX News Channel, my main client for work out of DC. That interview process led me to better understand what broadcast would be looking for - essentially, a one-man/woman operation who could hold down the fort and do coverage on breaking news events until the big shots show up. That never ended up working out, but it began to build my brand in the company.
Through friends and family, I started to build up contacts at CIA and Department of State for reading lists, unclassified documents and backgrounders on the history of the Afghans and their loosely configured nation. I got my library card and read a number of the books published by journalists who covered the invasion at Tora Bora, the search for Osama Bin Laden, and who offered primers on the nation itself. Some books I'd recommend: Philip Smucker's Al Qaeda's Great Escape, who broke the path that OBL took out of Afghanistan even before the US military was aware of it. The Great Game and the race for empire in Central Asia by Karl Meyer and Shareen Blair Bysac. But I'd still love more contacts if you got 'em!
Thus far, I've had no outlay of capital, but I'll be pricing the flight, the insurance, body armor, ballistic eyewear, radio gear (I'd like to offer radio reporting) MAC laptop, still camera, and I'll probably buy an inexpensive flip cam video camera which I can at least use to provide video content for my web products. So - now that I've got dates for the US Military, I've still gotta nail down my dates for an embed with NATO or ISAF (International Security Area Forces) as well as starting to really focus on how I'm going to get this product out of the country via Internet. This requires me to research the bandwith issues of an Internet that's spotty, and a cell service that is said to be everywhere but without a SAT phone, I probably wont' be able to get product out in a timely fashion, so now I'll have to price those too. If anyone has suggestions - I'm all ears!
So - thus begins a simultaenous gearup of my physical fitness as well as CPR/first-aid and a possible military training course, my studyup of the right kind of gear to purchase and just planning every last thing.
That's where I'm at right now. Thank goodness for the advice of a woman who's done this 5 times in Iraq as a freelance print and online journalist and the many others God as brought to put around me for great information and counsel. It's invaluable to know I'm not crazy....or alone.
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