Extreme backpack journalism...ABC News

Talk about extreme backpack journalists...

ABC News is in the process of setting up mini-bureaus in Seoul; Rio de Janeiro; Dubai; New Delhi and Mumbai, India; Jakarta, Indonesia; and Nairobi, Kenya.


Instead of being fully staffed, you will only find one person working there: a reporter-producer with the latest in hand-held digital technology with their focus on getting the story.


According to the article by Paul J. Gough of The Hollywood Reporter,

"Each of the seven reporters will work from home and travel around their region carrying a small DV camera and editing-enabled laptop. They'll report, write, shoot and edit their pieces, though they also will have support from others at ABC News. Most of the work will be uploaded via broadband to New York, though they will carry a portable satellite dish for the field where broadband isn't available."

In the process of becoming more digital and more global - this seems to be the next step.

"ABC News is in the middle of a transformation into a more digital company -- and one that can expand its reporting. Westin said that with the digital bureaus, it's free to report from more locations, including places where it wouldn't be able to afford to open a full-time bureau.


'It's a source of stories that we wouldn't normally hear from, and it gives us eyes and ears on the ground,' he said."

This is a dream job for some. Probably not for me, but it might be for you.

"Hughes said she heard about the deployment and itched to become a part of it. She acknowledges that she's not as well trained as a 20-year camera veteran but doesn't think it's a drawback.


'We're not going to be in a studio, we're not going to have people do our makeup,' Hughes said. 'The challenge for us on-camera is making sure that we find a great story and report it -- reporting it in a way that people are going to watch.'"