The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2014

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY-AUGUST 2014 33 in other countries facing ongoing conflict. Thanks in part to embassy reporting, the Honduras initiative is having even greater impact. As a Foreign Service officer moving between field and domes- tic assignments over the years, I’ve been at both ends of the reporting pipeline. I’m struck that one of the hidden benefits of serving in Washington is being on the receiving end, and seeing how and when field reports from our embassies and diplomatic posts that get into the right hands can improve policy and opera- tions. With the right audience, making that noise can shape events and our work around the world. Since entering the Foreign Service in 1999 as a public diplomacy of- ficer, Daniel Fennell has served in Iraq, Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico and Canada. In Iraq, he served as the spokesman and public diplo- macy chief for a Provincial Reconstruction Team embedded with the U.S. First Infantry Division in an active combat zone. He is currently completing an assignment in the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations as the deputy director of an operations team, and will begin an assignment as the public affairs officer in Accra this summer. The Value-Added of Networking By Christopher Markley Nyce Consulate General Basrah Being a reporting officer is interesting, rewarding and impor- tant work. I love the pursuit of knowledge and particularly enjoy searching out expert contacts on the subject I am responsible for covering, and learning from them. In the best of times we are afforded the luxury of writing think-pieces, which rely on multiple sources and offer depth and perspective. Spot reports and shorter writing pieces are by far the more common type of reporting, but even in those we strive to include the perspectives from people on the ground with whom we have talked. Why is all this important? I believe that, unlike journalists, reporting officers must be perpetually building our network of contacts. That way, when a crisis arises we are in the best pos- sible position to draw on our relationships to positively affect the outcome. This impact is often focused on our best interests as Americans, but just as often promotes the best interests of the people of the country in which we are serving. It is in times of crisis that our network matters most. But that network is only as good as our reporting efforts have helped to make it. There may be only a few times in our careers when it all comes together, but when it does, it makes a huge difference. That happened to me in Malawi in April 2012, when the sudden death of President Bingu Wa Mutharika led to a two-day period of uncer- tainty during which an unconstitutional transition of power—a coup—almost occurred. Through Ambassador Jeanine Jackson’s immediate engage- ment, we were able to encourage the constitutional transition of power to Vice President Joyce Banda. Our network of reporting contacts made this engagement flow naturally. In May 2014, President Banda competed in an election against Bingu Wa Mutharika’s brother, Peter Mutharika, and lost. Although vote Young, tech-savvy participants at a January TechCamp in Honduras discuss digital platforms to address crime and instability. Daniel Friedman/U.S. Embassy Tegucigalpa