Comments for South of West

Comment on Lessons of Somali Kidnapping by coldtusker

coldtusker — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 06:40:53 +0000

Those somalis are crazy! Remember the Eldon kid & his cameraman…?

Comment on No Longer Our Favourite African War by Rob Crilly

Rob Crilly — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:14:39 +0000

Well six years of misguided attention has indeed not helped. However, I can’t believe that forgetting about Darfur is going to help

Comment on No Longer Our Favourite African War by Don Cox

Don Cox — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:59:39 +0000

Perhaps it is time to stop being interested, and let the Africans sort out their own problems without constant nannying.

Comment on No Longer Our Favourite African War by Brains Like a Shoe » Chinese and Saudis in Africa, updates from Yemen and Northeast Africa, and – of course – absurdity from Sarah Palin

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 04:07:28 +0000

[...] Tidbits: Rob Crilly quickly notes steep decline of Darfur coverage and asks, “How do we keep people interested in just another African disaster?” From [...]

Comment on So You Wanna Be A Stringer by jina

jina — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:25:36 +0000

Yes, fantastic advice. But also a really fun read. It reminds me why I bother. Thanks.

Comment on So You Wanna Be A Stringer by Graham

Graham — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:30:33 +0000

Great post Rob. I’ve had a few conversations with young freelancers in Rwanda lately – when i told them to pitch everyone, make repeat sells they looked at me incredulous – “You can sell the same thing more than once… ?” Well, yeah, how the hell else are you gonna survive as a freelance?

One other bit of advice; If you’re starting out, go somewhere cheap and live cheap and then work your arse off. If you make $300 per month, that might just be enough to live. And if you keep pounding it out for a year or two, writing a great blog, tweeting from somewhere nowhere else and you should – if you’re good/bright – make it work so you might just be able to buy a proper meal twice a day and not just once per month

Comment on No Longer Our Favourite African War by Sam Barratt

Sam Barratt — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:04:24 +0000

This is interesting Rob – conflict in South Sudan could overtake all others next year. Somalia coverage doesn’t really count, its people getting cross about boats being screwed around rather than focusing on humanitarian crisis.

Comment on So You Wanna Be A Stringer by Scarlett Lion

Scarlett Lion — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:18:52 +0000

This is all great advice. Especially #1 and #2. Maybe it’s naive of me to think that if you really just work hard enough that everything will be okay, but so far that philosophy has served me well. I see too many people who come to Africa to be foreign correspondents and only work it for a month or two and are shocked that NYT hasn’t called them yet. So I guess that’s also what I’d add – stick with it for long enough that something can, you know, stick. Hopefully not just vomit on your shoes as well.

Comment on Linguistic Gymnastics and Genocide by JMac

JMac — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 02:46:40 +0000

2011 will be interesting, eh?

Comment on The Smell of Africa by Daniella

Daniella — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:12:59 +0000

A brilliant commentary. In South Africa there is the scent of Appletizer and apartheid. Nice traveling with you.