John Pomfret
John Pomfret
John Pomfretwas an English poet and clergyman...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionJournalist
CountryUnited States of America
demands type work
The work is a calling. It demands that type of obsession.
factions hard indication job periods time
The one indication that I got that I was doing the right job in Bosnia was that at different periods of time all the factions came down very hard on me.
bosnian chinese experience korean lives overseas prism tend within work
A lot of times when we work overseas we tend to put the experience of someone who lives overseas, a Chinese person or a Korean person or a Bosnian person, within the prism of an American life.
china sent
And the AP sent me to China very quickly.
opportunity quite
And then I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to go to China in 1980, which was quite early.
domestic reporting
In some ways the domestic reporting is a lot easier because Americans will talk to you about anything.
life numerous
I had my life threatened by Bosnian Serbs on numerous occasions.
china front grew page regular relations time york
I grew up in New York City in the late '70s, at a time when U.S. - China relations were something that was on the front page of The New York Times on a regular basis.
blows face good happen life organize represents
Good journalism, I think, represents life and if you try to organize something too neatly it usually blows up in your face and doesn't really happen the way you want it to.
came journalist paid
The desire to become a journalist came really because I very much like living abroad, and like to travel, and wanted to be paid for it.
witness
I think you're a witness and a recorder.
affect bosnia directly engage main national rwanda threat unless
I think that's the main threat in Bosnia and Rwanda and Zaire. There doesn't seem to be much willingness to engage these problems unless they directly affect national security interests.
addition best connect fact illustrate reporters shared time trying
I think some of the best reporters are the ones who can really illustrate the differences between societies, at the same time trying to connect the fact that there are a lot of shared values in addition to those differences.
covering newspaper states
I went back to the States and started at a small newspaper in Riverside County, California, covering the police; I was making $280 a week covering the police.