The questions that matter

I find being a foreign correspondent uncomfortable.

Not physically – although that too, sometimes – but philosophically and politically. Whenever I go out on a story my expectations and ideas take a drubbing.

Goodies turn out not to be so good, while baddies are often as bad as made out, but it pays to find out why.

Which doesn’t mean that I have no opinions, but rather, that reality is a constant assault on received wisdom. And that’s the whole point of journalism.

Anyone can have a point of view, but for me the excitement is in finding out for myself what’s happening, talking to as many people as possible, and challenging my own and others’ opinions.

So don’t come to this blog for fixed views, and paint-by-numbers journalism which seeks out the interviews and facts to fit a pre-conceived thesis.

If it’s uncomfortable for me to write, it should be uncomfortable for you to read.

I hope it will present the stories of those whose lives are torn apart by war, economic crisis, politics and change in a way that makes you care, and ask the questions that matter.