A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the University of Delaware in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Honors Bachelor of Arts with Distinction, in the Dean's Scholar Program in International and Environmental Journalism.

The primary goal of this thesis is to explore the challenges commonly faced by international journalists in all regions of the globe and to discover what strategies are used to overcome them, through interviews with twelve international correspondents in both print and broadcast media.

I decided to investigate five distinct obstacles faced by many international journalists. The first is the challenge of getting started in the field. Journalists are rarely well-versed in foreign affairs when they first begin, and they must move past culture shock and confusion in international situations in order to become knowledgeable. However, I found that most interviewees saw the learning process as an essential part of journalism, and that starting from scratch is preferable to arriving in a foreign country with inaccurate preconceptions.

The second is the challenge of developing successful personal relationships and raising a family while working in the field, a difficult accomplishment for both parachute and immersion journalists. I found most journalists used one of three ways to keep families together. One was to alter one's professional duties to spend more time with the family; two, to take the entire family on long-term assignments; or three, to rely on one's spouse to bear the primary responsibility for stabilizing the family.

The third obstacle is burnout caused by stress, a phenomenon faced by almost every international journalist in the course of his or her career. Decades of leaving home at a moment's notice, living deadline to deadline and often being threatened by violence take an enormous toll on correspondents. Most recognize that it is not a job one can do forever. Shifting jobs or locations is necessary not only to save one's sanity but to maintain the challenging nature of the profession.

The fourth challenge I examined is the gender and racial bias faced by female and minority journalists while working overseas. Interestingly, representatives of both groups said their minority status was more of a help than a hindrance in reporting, and aided them to either gain the trust of sources in international situations or to catch them off guard.

And the fifth challenge is simply how best to tell a story. Both print and broadcast journalists debate which is better &emdash; colorful feature writing or concise, factual accounts of the news. In the end it seems a mix of the two is best for capturing the attention of the American audience; journalists spoke of leading a story with a vivid image or single event and then "pulling back the camera" (in both print and broadcast) to get the wider picture.

These obstacles in journalists' personal and professional lives do vary with individual situations and assignments. But I believe that by investigating the trials that correspondents have shared and survived, perhaps beginning international journalists will be better prepared for the adventures ahead.