AN exchange programme targeted at examining the role that journalists play in the society and the challenges they face while doing their jobs tagged Spring 2013 Professional Fellows Congress opens Wednesday in Washington, D.C., United States of America with 10 journalists from four countries in Africa – Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda – participating.
The journalists are Ibrahim Kasita of New Vision, and Dorothy Nakaweesi, Monitor Publication Limited (Uganda); Lanre Lasisi, Channels Television; Hamza Idris, Media Trust Limited; and Kabir Alabi Garba, The Guardian (Nigeria); Alphonce Shiundu, Nation Media; Bevertone Kipchuma Some, The Standard, and Joan Chepkorir Barsulai, The Guardian (Kenya); Ekow Essabra-Mensah, Business and Financial Times; and Albert Futukpor, Ghana News Agency (Ghana).
The congress, seventh in the series, which runs till Saturday, May 11, will feature a total of 220 participants including fellows from other fields such as Economic Empowerment as well as Legislative Process and Government.
Specifically, the programme provides targeted professional development and support to emerging leaders working in the fields of Economic Empowerment, Legislative Process and Governance, and Media. It is designed to provide participants with a four- to eight-week practical fellowship experience to broaden their professional expertise. Placed in private, non-profit and government offices across the United States, Professional Fellows learn about how issues in their respective fields are addressed in the U.S., interact with a broad network of professional colleagues, and develop a more nuanced understanding of Americans and American society. The on-going Spring segment attracted Professional Fellows from over 40 countries and territories across the world.
Coordinated by the Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) unit of the U.S. Department of State, the main objective of the programme is "to increase mutual understanding between people of the United States and other countries...and thus to assist in the development of friendly, sympathetic, and peaceful relations" (Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchanges Act of 1961).
A key highlight of the four-day congress is the Poster Show on Friday where participants market their respective countries with emphasis on potentials and resources that can be harnessed for growth and development. The three journalists from Nigeria were last night busy perfecting their strategies to give Nigeria global mileage at the show.
The Guardian
African journalism needs rapid improvement for things to be better. They're below average right about now I must say. That is the case.