Scott Kraft described his life as a foreign correspondent for the Los Angeles Times as "one of the most fun and most rewarding jobs in journalism."

It is a life, he said, for voyeurs and adventurers who also love writing and reading. Not exactly Indiana Jones, but not your average life in the newsroom, either.

Newspaper editors tend to look for these qualities in correspondents:

• They must be self-starters able to work thousands of miles from an editor who can produce and get their stories in the paper.
• They must be resourceful in all kinds of situations. A correspondent may have to fix her own computer or drive 100 miles to find a phone to transmit a story.
• Correspondents should be "lone rangers" in temperament. When the big story happens in your area, you are it. You must be able to make decisions without consulting an editor. You must be able to develop and use your own resources, which might include hiring newscast monitors, people who will provide tips, and stringers.
• Correspondents must be relatively fast writers.
• Those hiring look for sprightly, spirited writing with energy, great ideas and a sense of humor. Foreign or distant correspondents cannot assume the readers will care about a story from their areas. They must look for stories that will resonate back home with the readers and be able to capture them readers. A correspondent should be able to write cinema-graphically, to use language that crackles and has vigor.
• Correspondents must know how to plant a flag, to file quickly, and to show they are there.
• A sense of drama and a sense of place are essential.
• Correspondents must work hard to get beneath the surface, and know how to surmount language and cultural barriers. Knowing a foreign language helps, but sometimes correspondents are sent to language school.

Kraft also talked about the kinds of stories correspondents are expected to write:

• "Daily stories" cover things that are important and memorable, and correspondents must be able to make decisions about what these things will be. The beat of a correspondent may be a whole country, or it may be half a continent (like the Nairobi bureau). Very often it includes several countries, like Italy, Spain and Portugal.
• "Weekender stories" are summaries of the week on a particular beat. These best lend themselves to places with ongoing stories, like Israel.
• "Special enterprise stories" are those that surprise you and your competitors. Kraft went to live with a family in South Africa with a maid who was on strike and living there during the strike.

The number of stories expected from a correspondent varies by the location. From a bureau like Nairobi, about 35 stores a year is typical. From Moscow or Jerusalem, around 200 a year might be filed.

He said foreign- language skills are good but not necessary if you are a good reporter. He was sent to language school for Russian. But previous knowledge of Spanish is expected for anyone covering in Latin America.

Reporters from other papers are colleagues in a remote location. They bounce ideas off one another. The unwritten rule is that they work side by side and share tips on daily stories, but they never talk to each other about feature stories or enterprise stories.

The personal side of being a correspondent has trade-offs that differ from person to person. The first eight years of a kid's life are okay almost anywhere there is a bureau. The Los Angeles Times pays school fees, and there are almost always American or other appropriate schools. The experience of being a correspondent's child can make a kid interesting (or strange). However, it is often difficult for the spouse of a corespondent to work in a foreign location.

When it comes to safety and violence, correspondents are told to be smart and err on the side of safety.