IIJ
Promotes Indo-American Relationships in Journalism and Media
By
Morgan Sigrist
IIJ
Ambassador
In Spring 2012, two Ohio University professors traveled to India conduct workshops for professional journalists
and to participate in several symposia organized by universities, journalism
centers, and the U.S. Consulate-General in Hyderabad. Professors Yusuf
Kalyango and Aimee
Edmondson spent 12 days travelling to Universities and journalism
centers in the cities of Tirupati, Hyderabad, and Dehli. They held seminars for
students, faculty and journalists. “We’ve made long-term relationships… we will
continue these connections,” said Edmondson.
The various visits brought together media academics and
practitioners to learn and exchange ideas on how they can build academic programs
and professional practice similar to that of the United States. In discussions pertaining
to Indo-American perspectives on journalism education and practice, the two
professors discussed the teaching practices in this changing electronic media
landscape. Professor Edmondson trained journalists and students an
investigative newsgathering technique called computer-assisted reporting (CAR),
which can be used by journalists to make their investigative stories better
and informative.
The Scripps professors were invited by the 2011SUSI
participant, Professor Vijaya Lakshmi to discuss democracy in journalism and CAR
(Computer Assisted Reporting). Professor Kalyango, director of the Institute for International Journalism,
focused on democracy and freedom of speech, a challenge for countries where
speech is guarded and regulated by governments. Professor Edmondson focused on
CAR program, which is a specialized kind of reporting that uses data and
spreadsheets to find trends. Edmondson taught participants how to find reliable
data on topics such as infant mortality, age expectancy and journalism safety,
showing that the CAR program “gives power to reporting.”
Kalyango and Edmondson lectured at three universities, two
of which were women’s universities, “I was excited by that,” said Edmondson. In
between visiting the three Indian universities, the professors also traveled
around to see some of India’s best-known tourism destinations such as the Tirumala Tirupati
Devastanam (World’s Richest Temple), the Ramoji Film City
and the Taj Mahal.
