 Salopek has worked intermittently as a commercial fisherman, most recently with the scallop fleet out of New Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1991.His career in journalism began in 1985 when his motorcycle broke in Roswell, New Mexico and he took a police-reporting job at the local newspaper to earn repair money.Salopek reported for the "Chicago Tribune" from 1996 until April 30, 2009, writing about Africa, the Balkans, Central Asia and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.