The Un Correspondent

Abstract

HE UNITED NATIONS ranks among the richest and, at times, liveliest sources of information for the world's press. While the headline-catching stories have usually reported its war and peace activities rather than its economic, cultural, and social ones, the UN has, nevertheless, served as a consistent source of stories for much of the international press. However, the UN correspondent remains one of the most neglected members of the UN team. With the possible exception of UN field activities, the UN correspondent serves as the most direct medium between the organization and the people represented therein. In a sense, the correspondent is the link between the man on the street and the diplomatic conference table. For without press reports, the nationals represented at the UN hardly know of its work; with these reports they at least have a basis for informed judgment. Thus far, there have appeared no scholarly studies of UN correspondents and the ways in which they serve as an instrument for public understanding of the UN.' In view of the unique nature of this journalistic assignment, the extensive facilities provided by the UN to enable correspondents to report its activities, and the possibilities for correspondents to participate in its diplomacy, it is worthwhile to explore the relationship between the UN and its press. This study attempts to determine how UN correspondents gather news and what they consider newsworthy; their sources of information; the conditions of their assignment; the techniques of their profession; their opinions of the UN; the impact of their presence on UN diplomacy. The two broad purposes of this study are to demonstrate the importance of the correspondents to the political process of the UN, and to suggest means by which political scientists might further explore their role. This study is by no means a definitive estimate of that role, but rather an introduction to this vital arm of the UN.