How many foreign correspondents are there in Spain, and in Europe? What is their profile? What are their working conditions? How are they distributed and which countries do they pay most attention to when reporting? These and many other questions are answered for the first time in the study Mapping Foreign Correspondence in Europecoordinated by Professor Georgios Terzis of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, which analyzes the status of correspondents in 27 European countries. Among these countries is Spain, whose chapter is authored by Ramón Salaverríaprofessor at School of Communication. For this study, the researchers conducted nearly 1,000 questionnaires, after contacting approximately 2,500 correspondents. The study describes their patterns of work, their work circumstances, as well as the impact of new technologies on the quantity, frequency and speed of their coverage.

The specific study on Spain is based on the information available in the diary de la Comunicación, published annually by the Government, which contains a detailed directory of accredited correspondents in the country. The figures in this source are not, however, absolute, as it is assumed that there are a few correspondents and, above all, freelancers, who are not registered in this public directory . In addition to this information, which allows us to outline the general framework , this study goes into more specific details through questionnaires to 29 correspondents, as well as in-depth interviews with two of them. All these references make it possible to trace a profile of foreign correspondents in Spain, with data referring to the end of 2012.

At that time, 258 correspondents were accredited in our country, of whom almost three quarters (72%) were men. These correspondents worked for a total of 202 media: 89 newspapers, 49 radio and/or television channels, 40 news agencies and 24 magazines. It was not possible to detail the number of digital media because, as the author of the Spanish chapter, Ramón Salaverría, points out, "although it may seem surprising, the diary of Communication does not yet contemplate this category". The 2012 figures represent a drop in the issue of accredited media in Spain of 14% (33 media) in five years: in 2008 there were 235 international media with correspondents in our country (92 newspapers, 64 radio and television stations, 43 news agencies and 36 magazines).

In terms of countries with correspondents in our country, the figures have hardly varied in recent years. In 2008 there were media from 44 countries with at least one accredited correspondent in Spain, while in 2012 the figure was 45 countries. By continents, the most represented in our country in 2012 were Europe (with media from 21 countries), America (15 countries), Asia (6 countries) and Africa (3 countries). There was not a single correspondent from a media outlet in Oceania.

In terms of countries, the ones with the largest presence of correspondents in Spain in 2012 were: Germany, with 30 media and 36 accredited journalists; the United States, 20 media and 48 journalists; and France, 16 media and 22 journalists. As was to be expected, the city of choice as a base of operations for most correspondents is the country's capital. In 2012, 149 media outlets had their correspondents in Madrid (71.6%), 20 in Barcelona (9.6%) and almost as many, specifically 19 (9.1%), were distributed among other cities; the remaining 9.6% did not indicate the city of their headquarters.

As the author indicates, the study allows us to detect a certain tendency towards labor precariousness. In 2008, of the 235 foreign media present in Spain, 148 (62.6%) had correspondents on their payroll, while 88 (37.4%) usedstringers. Five years later, in 2012, of the 202 foreign media remaining in the country, 119 (58.9%) had correspondents and 83 (41.1%) relied on collaborators. The work details many other aspects such as the linguistic profile of the correspondents, their methods of work, the sources they find most reliable, the topics they give priority to, or their increasing drift towards polyvalence.

Finally, the study offers a sketch of foreign correspondents in Spain: mostly men; with an age average of 39 years; with a university degree training and a level of programs of study of Master's Degree; with a average of 17 years of experience as journalists and a monthly income between 2,000 € and 3,000 €. This figure averages the salary of correspondents hired by foreign media full-time (better paid) and that of stringers (who are paid according to the amount of information published).

Correspondents in Europe

The full study estimates more than 6,600 correspondents in Europe in 2013. Their distribution, however, is anything but homogeneous. The country with by far the largest issue of correspondents is the United Kingdom, with 1,700. This means that every fourth correspondent in Europe currently works in the UK. It is followed at B distance by France (945), Belgium (931), favored by the fact that it is the seat of the EU, and Germany (729).

While the United Kingdom is the main importer of correspondents in Europe, the biggest exporter, as in other industrial fields, is Germany. issue Indeed, the German media have the largest number of correspondents in other European countries: a total of 505, followed by the United States (450) and the United Kingdom (378). Behind them are the United States (450) and the United Kingdom (378). In this case, Spain is relegated to 9th position, with 154 correspondents and stable collaborators based in other European countries.

The classification of correspondents by type of media is very complicated, as the combined work for several media is increasingly common and, in some countries, correspondent records are weak on this point. In any case, it can be stated that, at the beginning of 2013, the majority of international correspondents in Europe worked for print media (1,338 journalists listed), followed by audiovisual media (1,097 journalists), practically tied with news agencies (1,086 journalists), and finally online media (294 journalists).