International Project To Select
Egyptian Journalists

August 29, 2003

Bowling Green, Ky. - Jerry Barnaby and Peter Laufer travel to Egypt to select the first group of Egyptian journalists from the training program. The selection takes place in Cairo in early September.

Laufer, award-winning journalist and writer, and Barnaby, co-project director and director of Public Broadcasting at Western Kentucky University, will work with staff from the Al-Ahram Regional Press Institute (ARPI) to select the journalists.

The project is collaboration among Western's Public Broadcasting and School of Journalism and Broadcasting, Al-Ahram Regional Press Institute and Internews.

The first set of 18 to 20 Egyptian journalists will arrive mid-October for the first 8-week training session. The second and third U.S.-based sessions will be in spring 2004. Also, a WKU curriculum developer will work with an Egyptian counterpart to develop a pilot journalism curriculum for Egyptian universities. In summer 2004, WKU/Internews trainers will complete a training and assessment in Egypt.

This 15-month phase is funded by a $1.3 million grant from the United States Agency for International Development with support from Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. McConnell recognized the collaborative possibilities of Western and Internews and was instrumental in bringing the partners together and in the continuing program support.

For more information, contact Jerry Barnaby, 1-800-599-2424, or email jerry.barnaby@wku.edu. More information will also be found at www.wkyu.org. 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.

-WKU-