UT SERIES: Media and War course gets real battle stories from renowned international journalist

War seems worlds away until the bodies of Saddam Hussein's victims are piled up in a picture in front of you, impossible to ignore. UT School of Journalism and Electronic Media's Media and War course students learned the realities of being an international journalist in war times during a visit last spring from renowned international journalist Gary Thatcher.

Thatcher is a veteran journalist and editor and has been the associate director of program support for the International Broadcasting Bureau since 2000, where he overseas marketing, public affairs, international media training, program placement and program quality review.

"The first war I covered was in Zimbabwe," Thatcher said to a small group of graduate students, half of which had seen the destruction of war in their home countries or through being journalists in war zones. He painted a vivid image of his time in the African country with excerpts on starving people, shrapnel catapults, out of control inflation, unfair land distribution, mass killings, tortured political opponents and ruined lives.

"These are war stories," he said. "Improbable things that really happened."

But even when it looks impossible to offer aid in such a destructive time, Thatcher and other international journalists risk their lives to get stories out to the public, in hopes that their words and images can make a positive difference in the outcome of these atrocities.

In many parts of Africa and around the world, outside journalists are blacklisted, not permitted into the country. That doesn't halt their efforts. They broadcast from outside some countries' borders, utilizing stringers from inside the war-torn countries and working with exiled journalists. They establish satellite links and broadcast in various languages so listeners inside the area can here what is happening in the outside world and next door.

"Were it not for international broadcasting...it would essentially be a closed society," Thatcher said of their efforts. "We spend 600 million a year broadcasting to places in the world people would, frankly, like to forget."

Thatcher explained to the class that the outside world doesn't like to intervene in these matters. But at least we, as journalists, can inform the public so they will know someone cares enough to give them information on what is really going on.

RELATED LINKS:

International Journalist Speaks on broadcasting in denied areas of the world
Online News Hour with Gary Thatcher
Call for action on Zimbabwe 'war'
Q&A Zimbabwe crisis
Zimbabwe at war

UT SERIES: Students share Prague experience

Four School of Journalism and Electronic Media students offered memories of their recent trip to Prague to an audience of nearly 30 people at the University Center last spring.

The group kicked off the program with a photo slide show led by participant Margaret Menefee and featuring pictures of the country they spent eight days in while participating in an International Correspondence course.

Freshman Eric Gedenk, who had never traveled outside the country before going to Prague, spoke highly of the program and the cultural experience. "This opportunity was larger than life for me," he said.

At first, the culture shock was strong for Gedenk, but he soon discovered comfort in the foreign country.

"It was actually nice to have the language barrier," which afforded him an opportunity to be a fly on the wall; to observe rather than be part of the experience, Gedenk said.

By doing so, he came to see the similarities in U.S. and Prague culture. "It was the same, only different," Gedenk said.

During the session, the students shared stories of their favorite instructors, unforgettable moments and tricks of the trade passed down from world-traveled journalism professionals.

Participant Joel Smithson said he learned the value of a narrowed story topic when he attempted to cover the military's transition to a volunteer service.

"The biggest thing I learned was that the story needs to be a scope you can cover," Smithson said. "I learned a lot about foreign correspondence."

Shannon Winaker, one of the UT participants, discovered the importance of being prepared for anything.

"You really have to plan ahead, and that's one of the biggest things we learned about foreign corresponding, is that once you're on the ground you can only do so much," Winaker said.

After the presentation, the group fielded questions about their experience and future plans from the audience, ranging from undergraduate students to university faculty.

The students also said they are in the process of working with instructors to create models to integrate into classrooms. The models incorporate real world experience, guest lectures and international media law into courses.

JEM director Dr. Peter Gross said he hopes to continue sending students to the International Correspondence course. If funding allows, two JEM students will head to Prague in January, he said.

RELATED LINKS:

Independent Journalism Foundation - Prague
Journalism workshops in Prague
Investigative journalism course in Prague
The Prague Post Online

UT SERIES: Jordanians explore multimedia journalism at UT

Being a student at the University of Tennessee has given me the opportunity to explore international topics from the convenient location of a campus classroom. The school's Ready for the World initiative offers guest speakers, lecturers and films to prepare students for the global environment of today's world and give them the tools to succeed. The initiative is more than a UT statement meant to attract new students. My school, the School of Journalism and Electronic Media, has embraced the movement - adding international students and faculty to the classrooms, attracting guest speakers and lecturers on various international topics, offering an increasing amount of foreign exchange programs and global excursions and establishing international projects - all as an effort to help students grow into educated and aware individuals. The next series offers a taste of what UT's School of Journalism and Electronic Media is offering its students.

A group of Jordanian media professionals recently journeyed to UT's School of Journalism and Electronic Media to learn how they can strengthen journalism education in their home country.

The seven-day trip was part of a continued relationship with Jordan through a $5 million multi-year grant secured with the country and IREX, a nonprofit group, by Dr. Sam Swan. Swan is a JEM professor and director of internationalization and outreach for UT's College of Communication and Information. A group of students from Jordan came to UT during the 2007 fall semester and the relationship has continued with the visit of educators during the spring semester.

The two professors and one technician from the Middle East University for Graduate Studies in Jordan, arrived at UT to learn the ins and outs of journalism and electronic media, said Dr. Bob Legg, a JEM associate professor at UT.

"We're doing two things," he said of the collaboration between the country and the school. "One is they don't have the resources to establish something like this in their university, so we're helping them in that factor. And secondly, you're hope is that the journalists will absorb some of our Western/Democratic ideals."

His involvement with the Jordanians began last year during a visit to the country.

"I went over there (in summer 2007), interviewed people and saw what was going on with the media on a national basis and then designed a lab for them," Legg said. "They are hoping to do work very similar to us. Television, radio, Web-based, (and) backpack journalism - the whole electronic media and journalism mixture."

The group's trip to UT was designed as a learning experience for the Jordanians, giving them the opportunity to focus on the technical aspect of journalism. Three days were dedicated to training on Avid, a video-editing media composer. The rest of the trip allowed for camera time and talks with faculty about constructing newscasts, said Legg. The group also attended a research symposium on campus and sat in on a JEM 460 class creating a news show.

Legg also became the group's unofficial tour guide. "I have taken them to the hot spots as far as they are concerned, which has been Wal-mart and Best Buy."

Legg's next move will be going to Jordan to set up a broadcast studio at the graduate school. Aside from expanding their knowledge in multimedia journalism, the trip gave both American and Jordanian citizens an opportunity to cross cultural barriers and learn about one another.

"All they see is on the media, which is filtered through the Middle East, so their perception of the United States is erroneous, just wrong," said Legg. "The students that came (last semester), we asked them what was their impression of America. Their answer was ‘We just didn't expect everyone to smile and be so pleasant,' and this group said the same thing. They are just so pleased that everyone seems to be so nice.

"My experience was the same," he said. "I went over there unsure of what to expect and you find that people are people."

RELATED LINKS:

Professors collaborate to bring online journalism to Jordon
Journalists from Jordon host farewell seminar
Media landscape - Jordan
Can citizen journalism make a difference in Jordan?

RECOMMENDED READINGS:

"New Media and the New Middle East (The Palgrave Macmillian Series in International Political Communication)" by Philip Seibt.
"Women and Media in the Middle East: Power Through Self-Expression (Library of Modern Middle East Studies)" by Naomi Sakr.
"New Media in the Muslim World: The Emerging Public Sphere" by Dale F. Eickelman and Jon W. Anderson.