Know the country before the quote

What does an international reporter cover?

An international reporter covers events and policy outside your home country and how they connect to readers at home. That includes conflict, diplomacy, migration, human rights, global health and the foreign press itself.

Confirm facts with a primary source in the country or with the international body that produced the record. Advocacy groups and state-funded broadcasters are useful leads, but name who they are and check their claims before you publish.

Start here

Country and regional background

Use these to orient yourself. Confirm specific facts with a government, an international body or a reporter on the ground.

• Nations Online: Guide to countries, cities, languages and maps, with links to other sources on each country. Coverage varies by country.
• RFE/RL Newsline Archive: Archive of the daily Newsline report on Russia, Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a U.S. government-funded broadcaster.
• Pan American Health Organization: WHO regional office for the Americas. Country pages, publications and health data in several languages.
• U.S. Energy Information Administration: Federal energy data and analysis, with country briefs on energy production and use.

Migration and population

Check how each source defines migrants, refugees and asylum seekers before you compare numbers.

• Migration Policy Institute: Research and data on immigration systems, enforcement, refugees and integration in the United States and abroad.
• Migration Information Source: The Migration Policy Institute's online journal. Articles by migration experts and country profiles.
• National Immigration Forum (Advocacy): Immigration policy group with fact sheets, bill summaries and a policy bulletin.
• Population Reference Bureau: Research on population trends, including aging, families and population change.

Human rights, security and arms control

These groups hold positions on the issues they cover. Quote them as interested parties and trace their figures to the original record.

• Amnesty International USA (Advocacy): Human rights monitoring and campaigns in the United States and abroad.
• Arms Control Association (Advocacy): Membership group that promotes arms control. Analysis of treaties, nuclear weapons and nonproliferation.
• National Security Archive: Terrorism and U.S. Policy: Electronic Briefing Book No. 55, a September 2001 collection of declassified U.S. documents on terrorism and Osama bin Laden.
• National Security Archive: U.S. nuclear deployments abroad: Electronic Briefing Book No. 20. Declassified history of where the United States kept nuclear weapons overseas during the Cold War.
• Nobel Prize: Official record of Nobel laureates, including the Peace Prize, with citations and lectures.

Journalism and press freedom

Groups that support reporters working abroad and track conditions for the press.

• International Consortium of Investigative Journalists: Global network of investigative reporters. Cross-border investigations and the Offshore Leaks Database.
• International Center for Journalists: Nonprofit that runs programs and awards for a global network of journalists.
• International Journalists' Network (IJNet): ICFJ site with journalism tools, training opportunities and advice, published in several languages.
• International Federation of Journalists (Trade group): Global federation of journalists' unions and associations. Statements on press freedom and journalist safety.
• Canadian Broadcast Standards Council: Self-regulatory body set up by Canada's private broadcasters. Industry codes and decisions on viewer complaints.

Names, languages and time

• VOA Pronunciation Guide: Phonetic spellings for names and places in the news, browsable by region.
• Word2Word Language Resources: Directory of online dictionaries, translators and language courses. Have a fluent speaker check any translation you publish.
• World Time Zone: Time zone maps, daylight saving time rules and a world clock.

Reporting checks for this beat

• Have you confirmed names, titles and spellings with a primary source, and checked how to pronounce them for broadcast?
• Is the translation of a quote or document yours, a machine's or a colleague's? Has a fluent speaker checked it?
• Which body produced the number, and does it define refugees, migrants or casualties the same way as the source you compare it with?
• Is the source a government, a state-funded broadcaster or an advocacy group, and have you told readers which?
• Did you convert the date and time of the event to the correct local time zone?
• Could publishing a name or location put a local source, fixer or witness at risk?

Links were checked in September 2026 for a live page from the same organization. Advocacy groups, trade groups and party sites are labeled and should be treated as interested parties. Verify ownership, date and context before publication.