We three editors were not let go when management decided to move the French-language operation to Paris, but we were told that part of the deal of moving the French-language editorial work was that the French government required that French nationals or holders of French work permits would be hired as editorial staff. We were not eligible to apply for the jobs in Paris, but were transferred to a different department: the USIA press service.
I found a job as a writer/reporter/editor pretty quickly. There was a vacancy on the staff and I had two big advantages that got me the job. I was a native speaker of American English, and I already had a security clearance. Getting one of those could take three or four months.
The head of the press service needed to fill the vacancy as quickly as possible. Charles-Henry and the other assistant editor were kept to work on the magazine staff for a few more months to finish the issuesof the magazine that they had already started work on and to consult with management in the U.S. and in France about the details of the transfer of the operation to Paris. I don't think I would have wanted to move to Paris at that point anyway. Walt was working in a good job in Washington DC and was starting to think about moving to California.
I suddenly was in a job that required me to do reporting about policy issues in Washington and to travel with visiting African dignitaries, both francophone and anglophone. I wrote an article a day, if not two, for publication. A copy editor cleaned up my texts according to the style guide. Translators translated them. An "unofficial" part of my job was also to help the translators on staff in the press service when they had questions about the meaning of the English-language texts they worked to translate.
When their work on the French-language magazine was done a few months later, both Charles-Henry and his remaining assistant editor found positions as full-time translators in the press service. I ended up going to Africa in 1985 as part of the press pool covering a trip to drought-affected countries over there led by Vice-President George H.W. Bush. I traveled to Atlanta, New York, Houston, and Chicago as a reporter for USIA. I interviewed French-speaking Africans and wrote about them in English. It was an exciting job. But California was calling.
Must have been an exciting time! Sounds like you always managed to land on your feet, Ken. I wonder if you found the French spoken in various African countries to have many variations.
ReplyDeleteI was meeting Africans who were dignitaries or at least very educated people. I can't say I noticed big variations in accent or dialect. And I'm sure that even in officially francophone countries, there are a lot of people who don't speak French or whose French is fairly limited.
DeleteOne incident in that vein had to do with VP's George Bush famine tour in 1985. We flew from Soudan to Niamey in Niger and then on to Bamako in Mali. As a reporter, I flew not in the Bushes' plane but in the press plane which landed a little earlier. We were on the ground to cover the crash if the VP's plane went down. At Bamako, An area on the edge of the runway was cordoned off and I stood there watching the landing with some local reporters. One of them, standing next to me, introduced himself. I told him my name and he said: "You are Ken Broadhurst!? I love reading your articles. They make me feel like I was there with you." I think the conversation was in French, but my memory isn't what it used to be.
Later, as I started covering more sensitive and controversial stories for my job, I always thought about that comment the man made. I wasn't a big Reagan supporter. I personally don't believe that Ronald Reagan was one of the great U.S. presidents. Management at USIA started editing my articles to mention Reagan more often, praising his policies. That was when I started realizing that I needed to think about starting a new career. Once I was given an edited version of one of my articles that displeased me. I told management that I did not want that version of the article to carry my byline. California was calling...
Great adventures, and how very nice of the other reporter to give you your due, rather than simply seethe with jealousy (as writers sometimes do). I'm impressed that you stood up for your byline when fawning passages were being written in about Reagan. Of course, the USIA always was a benign propaganda agency, but no doubt did a lot of good spreading positive messages and images from the U.S. to the rest of the world.
DeleteKen, that is really cool that the other reporter said that about your articles! What a rewarding encounter that must have been :) I would imagine it would make you very frustrated to have someone adding commentary that was not yours, into something that had your name on it... it would infuriate me! I agree with you about Reagan... I feel that once is difficult health situation was revealed, and he lingered for so many years with Alzheimers, the opinion of his tenure as president took on mythic proportions.
ReplyDeleteIt is such fun and a personal spark to hear a complete stranger compliment you! What a feather in your cap and one to always have as a memory of your excellent work! I try to give out compliments freely and the response is often amazement that a total stranger has even spoken to the individual! Reagan had a lot of negatives in my opinion. Having my commentary changed into flattery of him without my approval would have been the end for me, too.
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