"Good journalists know the history and can judge the accuracy and bias of news sources"

Pamela Falk, a U.N. Resident Correspondent, is the CBS News Foreign Affairs Analyst based at the United Nations. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, she served as U.S. Congress Staff Director to the subcommittee of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. She received her J.D. from Columbia University School of Law and her Ph.D. from New York University. Dr. Falk has taught International Law and International Organizations at Columbia University and is the author/editor of six books on international relations. In her interview with FOREIGN PRESS, Pamela Falk offers insights to the foreign correspondents’ community in the United States from her vast experience as a foreign affairs analyst and distinguished journalist.

Pamela Falk

As a U.N. correspondent and CBS News foreign affairs analyst covering the U.N. for years, how would you describe the three most pressing issues our world faces internationally today?  

 The long-term impact of the terror threat in Afghanistan and the release of al Qaeda and ISIS prisoners in Kabul is a new story to watch. We are following that 24/7, focusing on the 20 U.N. agencies there, hoping to stay. The Iran nuclear threat remains at the top of the list, along with North Korea and famine in Ethiopia. Climate is a top story that is as global as it gets, and unlike the other pressing global story, the pandemic, there is no vaccine for the impacts of climate change.

International news coverage today is more relevant to people’s lives, perhaps even more than during the World Wars, because disease and terrorism can originate anywhere and strike on the far side of the globe rapidly. That puts a great responsibility on the “Fourth Estate” to be objective, honest, discerning, and knowledgeable. It’s not enough to quote “he said, she said” and file; today, a good journalist knows the history and can judge news sources for accuracy and bias. The good news is that research is faster and easier than ever, so putting a story in its historical and cultural perspective is feasible — if you put in the time and effort.

Today, our world is faced with the COVID19 pandemic. That has and continues to change our lives. In addition to global health emergencies, the most pressing problems continue to be the climate crisis, wars and conflict, hunger and poverty around the globe, nuclear threats, disarmament, and non-proliferation, and the UN is a centerpiece in international deal-making. 

With my 20-year perch at the U.N. Headquarters in New York, it still amazes me to see how relationships with diplomats matter to truly understand what is going on in a given story.

The level of private candor among sworn enemies would astound most people. I have developed enough trust with diplomats that I am told things (usually off the record) that help me explain the not-so-obvious motivations of Heads of State thousands of miles away. Few understand that, unlike Washington, where all the foreign embassies are focused on bilateral U.S. relations, in New York, the diplomatic focus is actually on ending conflict and addressing the horrors of civil and cross-border war: child soldiers, global migration, starvation, rape as a weapon of war and peace and security.

You follow the international news very closely. What do people not know about the process that international decisions are taken behind the scenes? 

Reporting the news and interpreting the news are two very different things. Some analysts of international news put their own personal perspective into their interpretation, which makes their analysis more subjective. 

Could you tell me if you viewed that as a pitfall and how you avoided it?  

I believe in striving for objective accuracy and bringing a professional rather than personal perspective to my analysis. That said, when I see human suffering, my heart breaks, but my job is to get the truth, so our audience can judge. All you need to see is CBS’ legendary Walter Cronkite - the platinum standard for objective reporting – choke back tears as he confirmed the death of President John F. Kennedy. 

In terms of my fact-finding background, I am burdened by having studied international law while earning a Ph.D. and a law degree. As a result, I probably do more research than needed, but I strive to make complicated stories about faraway places understandable to TV and radio audiences throughout the U.S. every day. Facts matter. In news analysis, knowing history matters a lot. 

Having reported on UN issues for more than two decades, what are the most important lessons you've learned?  

First, understand that cultures really do differ. Every conflict is not just about political power. Sometimes religious differences, history, and multi-generational blood feuds, coupled with scarce resources, misogyny, and racism, play a role. 

International stories, like medical or legal news, require a knowledge of both country history and politics and the players. I’ve also learned how diverse the American audience is. On a typical day, before writing stories and conducting TV interviews, I start with radio “two-ways” with five or six cities: I can be in NYC at morning drive-time, then Brownsville, Texas, then Seattle and L.A. Geography and the local culture in the U.S. matters.

What should foreign journalists covering UN affairs in the US be aware of? 

Because most news today is cross-platform, journalists today need to be tech-savvy, have top-notch writing skills, and be able to explain, on-air and in print, the back-story of any issue. Most foreign nationals think Washington rules the U.S., and to a large extent, that’s accurate, but few fully understand that the fifty states are sovereign and that Washington’s power is granted by the states, not the other way around.

Today's news is broadcast by TV and Radio, written on the web (and for some news organizations, in print), and streaming live. It has to be what CBS calls a “local-to-global streaming news experience” – what CBS News and CBS Television Stations’ new presidents and co-heads, Neeraj Khemlani and Wendy McMahon, call “a choreography of coverage,” that includes unparalleled, expansive on-the-ground reporting from New York to L.A., Chicago to Dallas, London to Beijing and everywhere in between. 

That is both exciting and challenging. Finding the right balance between the local perspective and the big picture overview is tricky.

On any given day, I begin at 6 a.m. on CBS Network Radio and with radio affiliates, giving updates on the day's important stories. Then, I write a story about a U.N.-related issue, and then, often, I conduct interviews with policymakers on air, all going 24/7, often overnight.

For the last two weeks, for example, we are covering Afghanistan – from the 20 years of war to the evacuations, the new government, terror threats, and human rights concerns.

And, I was pleased when someone suggested that my brand is making complicated international stories understandable.  That is what gets me up in the early morning after going to sleep late at night.