Reporters on the Job

• Women on the Street Interviews: Standing the the middle of an English shopping center and asking young women what they think of sex before marriage took reporter Mark Rice-Oxely (a married man) out of his comfort zone. Mark says he encountered all manner of reactions as he reported Wednesday's piece about teenage pregnancy in Britain (page 1). But coyness and reticence were not among them. "Britain has become very open about sex and fierce about its sexual freedoms in the past couple of decades," he says.

• Stick by the UN: When trouble erupts in Africa's Great Lakes region, foreign correspondents don't want to be caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. In recent weeks, reporter Duncan Woodside has been staying close to the UN troops based in the region (page 1). When the town of Bukavu in the Democratic Republic of Congo was seized by rebels, Duncan sometimes slept in the UN compound. Later, when government troops recaptured the town, he hopped aboard a UN helicopter that was evacuating foreigners. "Most of the journalists decided it was time to go. The UN told us that travel by road was risky, and offered us a lift. Clearly, the UN has an agenda and wants us to see the good they're doing in the area. But when things get volatile, it's safer to stick close to the UN than with anyone else in the area."

David Clark Scott
World editor

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