Kristina Shevory is a longtime freelance reporter who writes regularly for The New York Times about business and the military. She is an Army
veteran and a former staff reporter for the AP, The Seattle Times and TheStreet.com. She has written for The Atlantic, Newsweek, Wired, Businessweek, Fox News, Foreign Policy and the New York Post, among others.
Hometown:
Austin, Texas.
Education
: University of Texas at Austin, a geology degree with journalism minor.
Languages:
Russian, Spanish.
First job in journalism:
I was a paid editor at The Daily Texan, the University of Texas’ student newspaper that had a $2 million budget and a six-day-a-week publishing
schedule. We routinely went head-to-head with the local newspaper on the news of the day.
Countries where you have reported from:
I lived in Russia for several years running an English-language newspaper and writing for Businessweek, Dow Jones and the AP on politics and
business. I’ve also reported out of the Caucuses, Pakistan and Brazil.
When did you join the OPC?
I won an OPC scholarship and have remained a member because of all the wonderful mentors I’ve met through the group. Thanks to them, I found a book agent
and started writing for Businessweek and The New York Times.
Why did you join the Army?
One of the best decisions I’ve made was enlisting in the Army straight out of high school. I would do it again and would urge anyone to do the same.
Military service exposes you to a wide cast of characters and personalities you normally wouldn’t meet in a newsroom and gives you confidence to attempt
what may otherwise seem undoable. There’s widespread misconception that most people enlist because they have no other options and need the money. Not true.
I passed up the University of Chicago to become a Russian and Spanish linguist in the Army. Most of us, like myself, want to do something bigger with our
lives and believe strongly in giving back to this country.
How did your eight years in the Army shape your reporting?
Every time I meet a service member or veteran, whether I’m on the job or off, I tell them straight away that I served in the Army. It immediately engenders
a sense of camaraderie that I’m one of them and understand what’s going on. Many in the military, I’ve found, are suspicious of reporters and assume we’re
clueless, particularly if you’re a woman. But tell a vet or a service member that you, too, served and their faces brighten, their tone lightens and you’re
now part of the club. You’re told things other reporters don’t hear and offered opportunities that others are not. To wit, I convinced Erik Prince, the
Navy Seal who founded Blackwater, to work with me on a recent long-term project for Newsweek because of my veteran status. He knew he could trust
me to approach the story with an open mind and that I understood his business.
Tell us about your Alicia Patterson Foundation fellowship:
Every year, the foundation funds a handful of journalists nationwide who propose in-depth projects on international and national affairs. I pitched my
dream project: Let me write about special operations troops and freelance soldiers. They agreed and I’ve been working on stories, like the one with Erik
Prince, about the role of military contractors and special operations forces, like Green Berets and Navy Seals, in the wake of the U.S.-led wars in Iraq
and Afghanistan.
Reporting on the world has become far more dangerous, in part because more major news outlets depend on freelancers. How can risks be reduced for freelancers working overseas? Pay freelancers a living wage. Get rid of the no-questions-asked policy of news assignments. When a freelancer receives $100-$300 per story for an overseas
assignment, they can’t afford a hostile environments course or conflict medical insurance and will do everything on the cheap. They won’t hire a security
team or driver in dicey places and will rely on public transportation. Editors should take on as much responsibility as the freelancer does in dangerous
locales.
Advice for journalists who want to work overseas:
Learn the language for the country where you want to go and become an expert on the region. The more you know and understand the culture and people, the
better stories you’ll find. Move to the region. Don’t wait for someone to send you because they won’t. I moved to Russia on my own and I only started
writing for the AP, Dow Jones and Businessweek because I spoke the language and lived there.
What has been your major challenge as a journalist:
Getting paid well and on time. Convincing editors that most freelancers don’t have trust funds or wealthy spouses and that writing is their profession, not
a hobby. I’m a former staff reporter with 15 years of hard-news experience and yet a well-known magazine recently offered me $150 for a story out of a
dicey part of Africa. I always turn these assignments down and explain to the editor why their paltry amounts won’t begin to cover my expenses or my
experience level.
Best advice about journalism you have received:
Never work for free.
Favorite quote:
“No matter how slow you go, you are still lapping everybody on the couch.” Translation: Even when it seems like you’re getting nowhere, whether that’s with
a story or race training, you’re so much further along than all those people who do nothing but talk about going overseas, pitching that
big project or approaching that reluctant source.
Where you most want to return:
Pakistan. I traveled widely across Pakistan last year while on assignment for Foreign Policy and found the country absolutely engrossing with
loads of characters and under-reported stories.
Twitter handle: @shevory