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Confessions of a Stringer

This is an experimental section. These articles write special features about Peru that do not seem to fit neatly into Peruvian Graffiti. It's mainly about practicing journalism as a freelance correspondent in a country like Peru. I also want to write some of those stories that I never got around to writing. I also want to rescue those fleeting moments when I thought that I understood what the hell was going on in the country and in myself. Part reminiscence, part brainstorming, part stream-of-consciousness.

You can also check the Writing section Special g c i 275 feature for comments about the publications that I wrote for.

For more recent information about the situation of foreign journalism in Peru, check out the Foreign Press Association of Peru (APEP). It has useful links, a directory of working foreign journalists in Peru and samples of members' stories. I was an APEP member for eight years and served on their board for five years. It is a unique and valuable institution.

Country Notes

Nick Asheshov was my boss and journalistic mentor for my first adventures in journalism at the Peruvian Times. As a reporter who did lots of freelancing, he qualifies as an honorary member of this section. He now owns a hotel in the Urubamba valley near Cusco and living as a country squire, as was always his ambition.

The Honor Roll

Listed below are journalists and other low-lifes who spent some time at the Peruvian Times S.A. in Lima, Peru. There are other names that belong on this list, but my memory fails me. Please send me info if you feel that you belong on this list.

Postdata

Twenty years after learning how to pitch a story to an editor, I have come across the Latin American Journalism Handbook, an online resource put together by Ron Mader. It recently transformed into Latin America Media Project (LAMP). Ron also does an excellent job of covering eco-tourism, environmental issues, Latin American Internet and book reviews, plus other matters, so there's lots of information to mine. Check out his Peru page .

Why didn't something like this exist when I was chewing up pencils, drinking too much coffee and trying to write a lede? Who cares that the Internet (ARPANET, at the time) was just for the Department of Defense and a few research universities. That would have been a mere technicality.

For any colleagues from Latin America who might have checked out this page, Alfred Friendly Press Fellowships provide an "on-the-job training program for print journalists from developing and transitional countries with an emerging free press."

More resources for free lancers.