Proper Journalism is About Going Out into the World and Finding Stuff Out

Martin Patience

Martin Patience was a BBC foreign correspondent for more than 15 years with postings in Jerusalem, Kabul, Beijing, Lagos and Beirut. He was born and grew up in Glasgow, Scotland, but was blown away by the beauty of the Middle East as a young boy after watching Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. As a teenager, he travelled to the region and was later to study Arabic for a year in the Syrian capital, Damascus, where he met his wife. Martin has covered wars and insurgencies in Afghanistan, Lebanon, Israel, Gaza and Nigeria but also produced award-winning investigations such as babies being sold online in China and wrote about Hooligan X – a British nightclub DJ who died mysteriously in Lebanon after a drug deal went wrong. He studied history at Glasgow University while working at several Scottish newspapers and then later journalism at Columbia University in New York (which Sean Connery helped pay for with a scholarship.) Martin currently lives in Washington DC with his wife and son. His first book is to be published later this year.

How did your journey begin as a foreign correspondent for BBC for almost 15 years?

I went to the Middle East and studied Arabic for a year and a half in both Cairo and Damascus. I then rocked up in Jerusalem in 2005 with about $250 in my pocket and no plan other than to make it work! I freelanced for a Scottish newspaper, the Sunday Herald, and USA Today. Later that year, a job as a local hire came up at the BBC and I was lucky enough to land the gig. So, it was a combination of hard work, taking a chance and a bit of luck that got me in the door.

What is the most important part of the job of a foreign correspondent? 

In the purest sense, I think it’s going to the places where few others are going – and trying to figure out what is going on. 

What lessons have you learned over the years of working as a foreign correspondent?

That I’m unbelievably lucky and that so much of our life is determined by where we are born. If I was born in rural Afghanistan, I would not have been a foreign correspondent: simple as that. And, also, that life is very fragile; that societies can crumble, and that once a country is broken it can take generations to recover.

Can you recall a story you did well and one you did not? What did you learn from this experience?

I went to Tehran and Qom in the summer of 2019 when it looked Iran and the US were on the brink of war. So much of journalism is about timing – and that made the trip very special. I also had a fantastic cameraman and producer: when it comes to broadcast, you’re only as good as the sum of your parts. 

A trip that went badly was when I worked through the night in Hong Kong and then had to broadcast during the day. I was so tired that my delivery was incredibly sluggish and I was roundly criticized for that. I took it on the chin. Journalism is about delivering – no matter the pressures, you have to deliver. If you can’t handle that pressure then you’re in the wrong business.

You reported from Nigeria, Afghanistan, China, and the Middle East. How has this experience changed your perspective about the role of journalists? 

The more time I spent in the field, you realize that nothing happens in isolation. Take Nigeria, for example, and the Boko Haram insurgency. Part of the reason the insurgency got going was because weapons flowed into the country after the overthrow of Colonel Qaddafi and the subsequent chaos in Libya. And that event also had an impact in North Korea. The lesson: if you give up your nuclear weapons you could end up dying in ditch. So, the effects of a decision taken in Washington, Paris, and London were felt around the world.

As a foreign correspondent, how has your experience impacted your perspective of the world in the 21st Century?

When I arrived at Beijing airport in 2010, I got off the plane and I thought I’d arrived in the 21st century. The terminal is stunning and designed to wow you. It was a moment when I realized that the global gravity is shifting eastwards once more – and that will have huge ramifications for the West.

Were there any moments when your safety as a foreign correspondent was at risk? How did you act and what did you do to protect yourself and to deliver your story to your audience?

I’ve heard a lot of bombs and rockets going off across the Middle East and Afghanistan. On one occasion I was in a hotel in Gaza that was used as a position for one political faction fighting another. I lay on the floor for about an hour will the shooting went on: it was the middle of the night and there was nothing else I could do. Safety was paramount at the BBC but that is not to say there weren’t risks and you need to accept that as part of the job.

From the standpoint of its impact on society, which reporting of your career do you consider the most significant? 

I think, perhaps, my most significant reporting was in north-east Nigeria. I reported on the Islamist insurgency and widespread starvation among children. It was a hard place to operate but not many other journalists were doing it, so that’s why I think it’s important because it was underreported. And the whole Sahel region continues to be under-reported today. 

How would you rate journalism today and what is the future of foreign correspondents in your opinion? 

I think it’s a mixed picture. I think too much journalism is opinion-led these days and is about creating noise and not light. Proper journalism as I’ll call it, is about going out into the world and actually finding stuff out – and that costs a lot of money. I am heartened that some newspapers – especially the US ones – have once again found their feet financially and are doing some fantastic reporting. I do worry, however, about the future of public service broadcasters like the BBC, which are facing cut after cut after cut.

Can you offer any advice to aspiring foreign correspondents from around the world who wish to work in the United States?

I’ve only been here six months, so I’ll tread lightly. But I think America can be deceptive – we think we know the country because of our exposure to films, books, etc when in reality, it’s an immensely complicated country.