August 16, 2001

WKU International Journalism Training Program To Graduate Its First Class On Friday

Bowling Green, Ky. - Ten Indonesian journalists wrap up their three-week training at Western Kentucky University with a graduation ceremony Friday afternoon.

The completion of the International Journalist and Media Management Program's first session coincides with the 56th celebration of Indonesian independence. Participants will be wearing traditional dress at the graduation ceremony that begins at 2 p.m. in the Academic Complex Dining Room (room 213).

During the first week of this session, which started July 29, the 10 journalists and two translators met with broadcasters from Western's Public Broadcasting, faculty from the WKU School of Journalism and Broadcasting and professionals from the community. The sessions included discussions about the role of a journalist in a democracy.

In the second week, the group produced two 30-minute news programs with features ranging from the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville to how Americans take care of their pets. The group traveled to sites in Warren County, Nashville and Louisville to experience America and meet other broadcasters in their professional settings.

The final week culminated in a daily, 60-minute news program broadcast live on WWHR-FM 91.7, the student station at the WKU School of Journalism and Broadcasting.

The training project is a collaboration between WKU's Public Broadcasting, the School of Journalism and Broadcasting and Internews Network. Internews is an international nonprofit organization that supports open media worldwide and is responsible for training more than 16,000 journalists in emerging democracies in the past decade. WKU faculty, staff and students are involved in every aspect of the project.

This first session is the start of a series of six that will include managers from Indonesian radio stations and follow-on training by WKU faculty and staff to Indonesia in early 2002.
Next year, managers and journalists from Cambodia will receive the same type of training. The program is funded by a $2 million grant administered through the U.S. Agency for International Development.

More information on the program's partners is available at www.wkyu.org or www.internews.org

For more information, contact Jerry Barnaby at (270) 745-5489. More WKU news is available on the World Wide Web at www.wku.edu. If you'd like to receive WKU news via E-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.