It is late evening at a wine bar in Tallahassee, Florida, and two journalists are asking questions of an important local politician. While this is a scene that could have played out anywhere in the world, this was different on a lot of levels. To begin with, the questions were very personal, about the official’s family, and about the generations who have lived away from their Armenian homeland.

The Scripps Howard Foundation Semester in Washington Program is every journalism student’s dream come true.

The day I arrived in Washington D.C., I received my congressional pass that served as a passport offering unlimited access to the insides of the political arena in the U.S. capital. The program has given me the kind of tremendous exposure no other foundation or organization could have offered: the exceptional opportunity to rub shoulders with politicians, celebrities and world-famous journalists; the movers and shakers who make it all.

India is one of the world's most dynamic economies, and media are an important part of its rapidly changing scene. Hundreds of new television stations are being licensed, magazines abound and newspaper circulation still posts healthy gains.

The first group of Pakistani journalists on ICFJ's U.S.-Pakistan Professional Partnership in Journalism program returned home recently full of ideas for improving their media. After a week in Washington, D.C., the journalists spent three weeks working at U.S. radio and TV stations from Baltimore to San Diego. Participants published stories on their host stations’ websites and were featured in many broadcast stories on issues including U.S.-Pakistan relations and the killing of Osama Bin Laden.