I'm a British student studying a Masters in IR in Taiwan. I have only been subscribed a few weeks but I find Proximities to be a masterful blend of 'small' stories that make you think and 'big' stories that really aren't getting the attention they deserve. I live in a very international environment and the ability to connect wit…
I'm a British student studying a Masters in IR in Taiwan. I have only been subscribed a few weeks but I find Proximities to be a masterful blend of 'small' stories that make you think and 'big' stories that really aren't getting the attention they deserve. I live in a very international environment and the ability to connect with other nationalities by bringing up an item of (their) local interest is also incredibly useful.
As others have said, the brevity of the newsletter really is a virtue.
If I had a question it would be: what is your process for gathering possible items? and: what is your process for determining which ones make it in?
Thanks for creating this introduction thread as well, it's a really pleasant idea.
I'm finding it really pleasant, too! I love that you can bring up news that you've read in Proximities in an international environment like that. And thanks for feeding back that you like the brevity - think that's coming through loud and clear.
Re your questions:
- What is your process for gathering possible items?
It takes a lot of reading. Working as a journalist it's always been a habit to read a lot of news every day but I've definitely had to step it up since starting the newsletter. So it's actually ended up being helpful for my job too as it means I read even more every day. I also keep an eye on social media during the day to see if anything worthy crops up and, if so, I save it for later to remind me to look into it. Then, once I've zeroed in on a story, I check it against several sources to find the link that might work best for Proximities. And I make sure the reporting in those links is rock solid. After years in this business, I can work through the different stories and judge the quality of the reporting pretty fast.
-What is your process for determining which ones make it in?
It's like you said above actually. I like how you put it. Important stories that aren't getting enough international attention (as I see it), or small ones that may intrigue or point to a trend, or stuff that the media *was* covering but has since moved on from (Afghanistan, for example). There's no hard science. I feel my way through it each day. I also like to return to stories more now so readers feel they're being kept up to date with something they may have first heard about in the newsletter (the conflict in the Sahel is a good example of this).
Hope that makes sense! And thanks so much for taking part in this.
Thanks for your reply. It was quite instructive and also more work than I anticipated!
One thing I've noticed over the last two weeks especially is the 'returning to old stories' part, which as you say is extremely valuable. However, it's somewhat in conflict with the aim to continually shine a light into new places. It almost feels like you need a Proximities² section for stuff that gets crowded out by this!
I also have a suggestion, firmly for the future, that if Proximities ever expanded you could offer regional newsletters so that someone who wanted to focus on improving their finer-grained knowledge of Africa for example could do so.
Hi Barry,
I'm a British student studying a Masters in IR in Taiwan. I have only been subscribed a few weeks but I find Proximities to be a masterful blend of 'small' stories that make you think and 'big' stories that really aren't getting the attention they deserve. I live in a very international environment and the ability to connect with other nationalities by bringing up an item of (their) local interest is also incredibly useful.
As others have said, the brevity of the newsletter really is a virtue.
If I had a question it would be: what is your process for gathering possible items? and: what is your process for determining which ones make it in?
Thanks for creating this introduction thread as well, it's a really pleasant idea.
Warm regards,
Josh
Hi Josh,
I'm finding it really pleasant, too! I love that you can bring up news that you've read in Proximities in an international environment like that. And thanks for feeding back that you like the brevity - think that's coming through loud and clear.
Re your questions:
- What is your process for gathering possible items?
It takes a lot of reading. Working as a journalist it's always been a habit to read a lot of news every day but I've definitely had to step it up since starting the newsletter. So it's actually ended up being helpful for my job too as it means I read even more every day. I also keep an eye on social media during the day to see if anything worthy crops up and, if so, I save it for later to remind me to look into it. Then, once I've zeroed in on a story, I check it against several sources to find the link that might work best for Proximities. And I make sure the reporting in those links is rock solid. After years in this business, I can work through the different stories and judge the quality of the reporting pretty fast.
-What is your process for determining which ones make it in?
It's like you said above actually. I like how you put it. Important stories that aren't getting enough international attention (as I see it), or small ones that may intrigue or point to a trend, or stuff that the media *was* covering but has since moved on from (Afghanistan, for example). There's no hard science. I feel my way through it each day. I also like to return to stories more now so readers feel they're being kept up to date with something they may have first heard about in the newsletter (the conflict in the Sahel is a good example of this).
Hope that makes sense! And thanks so much for taking part in this.
Bests,
Barry.
Thanks for your reply. It was quite instructive and also more work than I anticipated!
One thing I've noticed over the last two weeks especially is the 'returning to old stories' part, which as you say is extremely valuable. However, it's somewhat in conflict with the aim to continually shine a light into new places. It almost feels like you need a Proximities² section for stuff that gets crowded out by this!
I also have a suggestion, firmly for the future, that if Proximities ever expanded you could offer regional newsletters so that someone who wanted to focus on improving their finer-grained knowledge of Africa for example could do so.
Please keep up the great work,
Josh
Great ideas, Josh. Perhaps for the future.