A reporter's wisdom from abroad

Finding herself in Chechnya with a story to cover but no translator to help her out, reporter Trudy Rubin got resourceful and found another journalist to help her out. Rubin related that tale, as well as other adventures and pieces of advice she gathered from her work as a Philadelphia Inquirer foreign correspondent, to 30 students and community members in Logan Hall last night. The International Relations program hosted Rubin, asking her to share her perspectives on foreign policy and correspondence -- part of a program sponsored by the Fund to Encourage Women. FEW, part of the Trustees Council of Penn Women, pays for females to lecture as a way of increasing the visibility of female professionals. Typically, such grants go to Women's Studies programs or other fields directly related to women's issues, according to Frank Planton, the associate director of the IR program. However, Planton said the FEW program also offered "an opportunity to say something meaningful to women in other academic pursuits." "Trudy is local and a classic," Planton said. Rubin addressed topics ranging from choosing a story topic to the world's ever-changing news coverage. "Sometimes my job puts me in the position of having to be a parachute artist," Rubin said. "You go into a country, stay a few weeks and are supposed to know what to say." Frequently visiting countries and having an opportunity to build up a network of contacts helps, she said. Still, Rubin has found herself occasionally unprepared. "Sometimes, you just have to go and see what happens," she said. "Be inventive and use every opportunity." Students said they found Rubin's perspective refreshing. "I think it offers a nice complement to class," said Maragret Watt, a College junior majoring in IR and Economics. "We read scholarly works and texts, but having someone who is amidst these happenings is a very nice example." And indeed, Rubin offered many examples of real-life experience and advice to her audience over the hour she spoke. Security, she says, is part common sense, part luck. "You make choices," she said, "but can't always plan for it." Planning for the unexpected may not always be possible, but international news coverage in the world is changing. "After 1990, structured coverage broke apart," Rubin said. "The whole world is open." With such "enormous sources of information" comes the need to make choices about coverage. "The audience is a leap of faith," she said, adding that -- at times -- she must "write about things the audience may not be interested in, but at least that information will be out there." Audience members found Rubin extremely interesting. "She was very educational and informative," said Bess Freedlander, a College junior and IR major. "Her stories were entertaining and fascinating."