How to Become a Foreign Media Analyst
In most instances, a foreign media analyst works for the intelligence community. Since the development of the internet, intelligence agencies have learned the value of having scholars and linguists scour foreign media sources for bits of information that can be translated into usable intelligence. This normally is a painstaking process, but it has long been an established part of intelligence gathering and analysis of the intentions of foreign governments, social movements and militaries.
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Instructions
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Learn a foreign language. With few exceptions, a real foreign media analyst---sometimes called an "open source" analyst --- earns his salt by and through translation. If a Chinese general makes a statement on an important military issue, the CIA's open source Chinese specialists will make a quick translation of the statements and issue a briefing to the relevant agencies in government. The hope is that a military official will make a statement that inadvertently reveals or implies some strategic plan or idea. Most of what you will do will be publicly available, but,on occasion, you will stumble upon something that is usable and otherwise overlooked. In terms of career prospects, the areas in high demand in 2011 are Chinese, Arabic and Central Asian languages such as Farsi or Urdu.
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Focus your scholarly attention on a specific area. A foreign media analyst is never a "generalist." He or she must focus on a specific place. Chinese speakers will focus on China and Taiwan. Russian speakers focus on Russia, but some can get away with Serbian, Bulgarian or Ukrainian work as well.
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Get a degree in international relations, international economics or a closely related field. The degree can be a Bachelor's, though higher level degrees might help in later promotion in government work. What is important is that you can combine language skills with analytic ability. This job is not just about translation, but about analyzing what you translate. The real skill here is being able to "read between the lines" concerning foreign public statements, news or public debates.
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Submit your credentials to the State Department, CIA or military intelligence. All of these have human resource departments accessible online. You will have to do some digging on all these agencies, but if you have a background in a strategic area, such as Iran or North Africa, your chances are better of getting a job.
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Learn to cooperate closely with others in this field. This often comes simply through experience. In many cases, linguists will have to interface so as to compare notes on important issues. For example, in covering the Balkans in the 1990s, it was necessary for those speaking Serbian and/or Greek to interface with those speaking Arabic and specializing in the Islamic world. This is due to the fact that Islamic groups from the Middle East were sending weapons to the Muslims in Bosnia. Therefore, intelligence agencies required reports and briefings that used the insights of both area specialists. Developing relationships with other specialists is often done on a case-by-case basis. In general, the nature of the cooperation among linguists follows political and geographic lines. Spanish speakers covering Central and South America will be cooperating quite often. East Asian specialists will interface often with Central Asian specialists, following Chinese expansion into this strategic area. Arab specialists will continually interface with those speaking Hebrew or Urdu.
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Tips & Warnings
Prepare yourself to "play the game." Once you get a government job in this area --- and there has traditionally been a high demand --- it is basically assumed you agree with American foreign policy. If you do not, your life as an analyst will be short. If it becomes known that you are opposed to U.S. aid to Israel, for example, and you are working as an Islamic and Arabic scholar, you might be accused of issuing biased reports. Often, such analysts will be foreign born American citizens, which might compound the problem, especially in controversial and highly strategic areas. Keep any political opinions to yourself. Expect very thorough background checks when you apply and close surveillance in your first years.
