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South Asia has become something of a freelancers' paradise, but working on one's own there still is full of challenges, Voice of America South Asia bureau chief Steven L. Herman told journalists Saturday.
The keys for reporters willing to risk it all abroad are “fire in the belly” and “raw talent,” he said.
Of course, having a strategy to support yourself while getting going is also a necessity.
“Making a living out of it is difficult,” he said of freelancing in South Asia. “Make sure you have a financial plan.”
Wire services can be hardest to find work with he explained, while print and broadcast assignments - for journalists possessing the right assignments and skills - can be easier to land.
Still, no organization is "a closed shop,” he said. This is true especially if you are located in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kathmandu, Colombo or Dhaka, where stringers with “AP-style” language skills can be hard to come by.
He recommended old fashioned networking to get on editors' radars as well as Twittering and working through such organizations as the Foreign Correspondent’s Bureau of South Asia.
-- By Gayathri Vaidyanathan, recent graduate of Columbia University.
