The UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communication hosted 20 journalists from the Near East and North Africa from Oct. 30 – Nov. 4 as part of the 2014 Edward R. Murrow Program for Journalists.
The journalists’ visit was part of a three-week exchange to examine the essential role of independent media in fostering and protecting freedom of expression and democracy. The Murrow Program is a flagship initiative of the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), the U.S. Department of State’s premier professional exchange program, and is a public-private partnership with nine leading schools of journalism that host the participants.
UNC J-school faculty members Chris Roush, Steven King, John Clark and Gary Kayye gave presentations during the program. Shai Tamari, associate director of the Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations, and Abdullah Antepli, Muslim chaplain and adjunct faculty member of Islamic Studies at Duke University, also presented.
The group also toured local media organizations that included WUNC, UNC-TV and The Daily Tar Heel.
The Edward R. Murrow Program for Journalists honors the legendary CBS News radio reporter whose career included historic coverage of World War II and later critical reporting on Sen. Joseph McCarthy. Murrow would go on to be appointed director of the U.S. Information Agency.
Program participants actively tweeted their experience using the #IVLPMurrow hashtag.