Jan Oberg
As seen in:
Substack,
China Daily (English),
China Daily Global,
Flipboard,
DNA India,
Global Times,
CGTN,
Inter Press Service,
Global Research,
EIN News
and
Covers:
Selected conflicts, conflict investigations, Middle East, Europe, peacebuilding, world order, US foreign policy, security, NATO, EU, new Cold War, Iran, Syria, civilsociety, refugees, Nordic countries
Doesn't Cover:
War only, purely military affairs/aspects, biased/slant dimensions that seek to place countries and leaders as our eternal enemies. Conflict zones I haven't visited myself and/or studied.
Peace researcher & director at TFF transnational.live • Art photographer at obergphotographics.com • Peace by peaceful means • +46 (0) 738 525200
Interview
What was your first job as a journalist?
Have forgotten! And see myself more as a media commentator and education - based on field work that is close to what a good journalist does.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
Yes
How is social media changing news?
Towards too much info and too little knowledge. Traditional printed media will fade. Everybody become, in principle, a reporter, filmmaker...
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
None! - Or a tricky question. But let me say that there is too much fiction (and omission) in news writings about int. affairs/conflicts.
What does it mean to be a journalist?
Well, I'm not a professionally educated one. It means reporting the world from many angles, with research, serving public education.
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
I like humour - being born in Denmark!
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
The way you prefer. I see it as my duty to be available.
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
MacBook Pro, all kinds, platforms, technologies and media - fascinated with all possibilities, latest Facebook Live broadcasting too.
What's your favorite social network?
Facebook - where I have a public page, profile and the page of transnational.org
Who do you wish followed you?
Some of those who are responsible, as decision-makers, for destroying our beautiful world.
Why did you become a journalist?
If I am! What I do - going to conflict zones and reporting - is basically the same as a researching journalist does: Seek truth and educate
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
Yes, more than one - in politics and culture. Loved it. Been a communicator all my life. I was an editor and wrote book or music reviews too.
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
Stories that describe the conflicts under the violence; violence - war reporting - only dealing with surface, symptoms. Showing ways to peace
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Do your own thing, be independent even if it means being less well paid. Focus on constructive alternatives and future(s), not just bad stuff
When's the best time to pitch you?
Any!
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
Agreed with a leading US pol mag to write about Syria/Aleppo - then "editorial priorities changed". No publication but honorarium. Hurts!
What's your favorite drink?
Haha - reasonably good red wine, whisky and Nordic bears. But don't mix drinking with research and writing :-)
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
In the world of contemporary art - being an art photographer and art collector too. That world lasts longer than the economic and political..
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
I read across the net - media from the West and the Rest, the latter being increasingly more interesting...
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
that peace is just the absence of violence and that violence should be in focus instead of the underling conflicts - the now over the past
Would you like to take the Muck Rack Interview?
Create a Muck Rack profile.