Foreign Reports - History

History

Foreign Reports Inc. was founded in 1956 by Harry Kern, who had previously been Foreign Editor of Newsweek, in which capacity he traveled extensively throughout the world, but especially in the Far and Middle East.

Newsweek and Time Magazine during that period were practically the sole elements of the U.S. news media reporting on world activities in a timely fashion. As Foreign Editor, Harry Kern also was Editor-in-Chief of the magazine’s International Edition and thus had the privilege of picking who or what would adorn the cover of those editions. Since various foreign leaders, or aspiring ones, angled to get their pictures on the front of Newsweek, Kern was a popular visitor in many foreign capitals. In the process, he managed to befriend both current and future leaders and to gain insights into how their policies were developed.

Foreign Reports grew out of these unique circumstances, as Kern saw a need among growing multinational companies with sizable stakes around the world for a level of international political reporting that surpassed what was then being carried in the daily newspapers of the period. From Newsweek, he brought with him to Foreign Reports two bureau chiefs, one in Beirut and one in Tokyo. From these "bureaus" of Foreign Reports came a steady stream of insightful reporting on the regions they covered. Among its initial major subscribers were the world’s major oil companies, but also other industrial and banking concerns.