The International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) is looking for newspapers and broadcast stations to
host visiting international journalists. For journalists from a developing country, few opportunities are
prized as much as working at an American media organization -- even briefly. ICFJ depends on its partnerships
with newspapers, magazines, radio stations and television stations to give journalists practical, hands-on
exposure that helps improve the state of journalism in their own countries.
ICFJ was established in 1984 as an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality
of journalism worldwide, especially in countries with little or no tradition of an independent press. It was
founded in the belief that a professional and well-informed press benefits not only its immediate audience,
but also people everywhere.
At the core of the Center's efforts to promote better journalism are its efforts to place international
journalists in U.S. newsrooms.
What you gain
Many U.S. editors who welcome journalists to their newsroom appreciate the new perspectives that come from
the exchange. The visitors "reminded our staff that we are part of a larger would and that the challenges
many foreign journalists are facing every day make our challenges look pale," said Steve Smith, editor of
The Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Wash., who has hosted international journalists from ICFJ.
Sometimes the benefits are very tangible. In fall 2000, the Deseret Morning News welcomed
Mirjana Stefanovic, deputy editor of a Belgrade newspaper, as part of an ASNE-sponsored exchange. Soon after
she arrived, Yugoslavia stunned the world by noisily ousting President Slobodan Milosevic from power.
Stefanovic wrote numerous articles and columns explaining the events, offering Deseret Morning News
readers context they never would have gotten otherwise.
Visiting journalists sometimes provide timely, on-the-ground reports for their host organizations even
after they return home. An editor in San Salvador, El Salvador, spent her attachment at the Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette. Soon after she returned home, the editor provided the Post-Gazette coverage of a
7.6-magnitude earthquake and of relief efforts from Pennsylvania.
How does hosting work?
ICFJ arranges for the journalist to visit from a week to two months. ICFJ relies on you to structure the
visit and provides a guide with useful tips. We sometimes ask hosts to assist in finding suitable housing,
but the Center covers all costs.
Many journalists' visits mirror their interests at home, as one schedule sent by a host from the
Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch attests: "She's had a very packed week this week, including the
General Assembly, the state's death row prison (including the execution chamber), a police press
conference and, tomorrow, a jail tour in Henrico County. Not to mention her time with an Armenian priest
and her discovery of a friend who lives here," wrote deputy managing editor John Dillon of an Armenian
investigative reporter interested in covering prisons and jails.
You can make a difference for journalists like these and for independent media in their countries.
Consider becoming our partner
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