LUSAKA, ZAMBIA — Who is leading the fight against AIDS in Zambia?

That was the question that brought about 100 people together at the Intercontinental Hotel here today. And the answer was -- not nearly enough of the people who should be. That was the question that brought about 100 people together at the Intercontinental Hotel here today. And the answer was -- not nearly enough of the people who should be.

Father Michael Kelly, an Irish-born Jesuit priest and now a Zambian and AIDS expert was there.

LUSAKA, ZAMBIA — I had already spent a jet-lagged weekend here, strolling the dirt footpaths to the center of town and to the local shopping strip before I met the editor of the paper where I will be stationed the next year.

That may be why when I asked him if he thought journalists here would be receptive to the support I hope to offer, I found his answer as credible as I did.

"Yes, they will.

When I started writing about the public health in Palm Beach County, Florida, five years ago, I didn’t imagine that what I learned would lead me to AIDS conferences in Australia and Mexico, to prisons and brothels in the Caribbean, and now, to Zambia where I will spend the next year working with health journalists.

It has been already three weeks!! I arrived to Bolivia with my family the 16th of january to work with the ICFJ implementing a digital platform that will entitle the journalists from rural areas to share their contents and stories. My partner in Santa Cruz will be Radio Fides, a networks of stations owned by the jesuitic company and considered to be one of the most serious and balanced in a country torn by a fierce political struggle between the capital, La Paz, and the capital of the eastern part, Santa Cruz.

"Democracy in Azerbaijan: Goals and Challenges" broke new ground, allowing open discussion of sensitive topics, and bypassing traditional government-controlled media by using the Internet.One question I faced in the press conference we held a couple of days before the forum was: “How is your forum going to affect the election?”

This was an interesting question – and a pretty easy one to answer. The goal, I said, was not to affect the election. Everyone knows the president of Azerbaijan is going to be re-elected.

Some thoughts from the night before our forum - Democracy in Azerbaijan: Goals & Challenges.Oct. 9, 200811 p.m. The end is in sight for a project that has occupied Chuck & me for the last two months. Yesterday we had a press conference to the forum – Democracy in Azerbaijan: Goals and Challenges. We were also guests on a Radio Liberty talk show, discussing the event. Tomorrow, the forum will be held at the Park Inn in Baku. We have confirmation for about 40 guests. We have confirmation from most of the panelists.

Young Azerbaijanis learning how to use blogs as one form of modern journalism.

The 14 young Azerbaijanis who crowded into the Sheki computer center on Aug. 5 weren’t focused on building democracy, but the training they received from the ICFJ is leading in that direction. In one day, the students created both individual blog sites and a site for their collective blog.

Russian journalists had the opportunity to discuss journalism, politics and the relative merits of subway systems in a wide-ranging discussion with a New York Times correspondent based on Moscow. About a dozen journalists at Moi Rayon-Moscow got a personal introduction to Western-style journalism when Andrew Kramer, correspondent for The New York Times, visited the newsroom for a lunchtime discussion on Feb. 18, 2008. Discussion topics ranged from reporting styles to the comparative merits of the New York City subway and the Moscow Metro.

One of the three Moscow-based New York Times reporters recently visited the news room of Moi Rayon for an informal discussion about reporting, politics, and the relative merits of the New York City and Moscow metro systems. While the US has many positive aspects, the New York Times reporter on the record preferred the Moscow metro.

Dmitri Surnin, editor-in-chief at Moi Rayon-Moscow, listens as Andrew Kramer, New York Times correspondent, discusses his work with Russian journalists at Moi Rayon.