Melanie Marshall spent over 20 years as a BBC foreign news journalist and war correspondent, covering the most volatile conflict zones on the planet. Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Tunisia, Honduras. Her job was to get the team in, get the story out, and get everyone home safely. No playbook. Just problem solving under pressure, sometimes under fire. What most people don't see when they turn on the news is everything that happened before those two minutes of footage aired. The permissions that were never granted. The checkpoints that wouldn't budge. The moments where the only way through was to outlast whoever was standing in your way. In this episode Melanie pulls back the curtain on what war zone journalism and foreign news production actually looks like from the inside. She talks about negotiating access to an MS-13-controlled prison in Honduras, staring down the black flag of Islamic State in northern Iraq, and what two decades of conflict reporting taught her about staying present when everything around you is falling apart. This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation with a BBC war correspondent. Part 2 is where she shares her No Ordinary Monday story. Connect with Melanie: WEBSITE: melanieamarshall.com LINKEDIN: linkedin.com/in/melanie-marshall-237a641 YOUTUBE: youtube.com/@MDMarshall TIKTOK: @melaniemspeaks X/Twitter: @mdmarshall SUBSTACK: substack.com/@imrama CREDITS Guest: Melanie Marshall. Former BBC Foreign News Journalist and Producer, Hostile Environment Specialist, 20+ years covering conflict zones across Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Tunisia and beyond. Host, Producer and Editor: Chris Baron Music: Paulyudin, Music_Unlimited and SaavaneSound effects: Pixabay and FreeSound Podcast Access: https://pods.link/noordinarymondaySUPPORT US - NOM is a 100% independent show. Help us keep the lights on by buying us a coffee (or a beer) - https://buymeacoffee.com/noordinarymonday. We're deeply grateful for any level of support. SHOW US SOME LOVE - click five-stars on whatever platform you're on, and leave us a review, or tell a friend about the show. WANT TO BE A GUEST? You can submit your own career story through our website at www.noordinarymonday.com, or email us at [email protected]: foreign news journalism, BBC, war zone reporting, hostile environment journalism, conflict reporting, news production, Iraq, Afghanistan, Honduras, MS-13, Islamic State, media industry, storytelling, press freedom, resilience

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