Scripps Initiates Partnership with D.C.'s Center for Strategic and International Studies

By: Cassie Kelly

Professor Andy Alexander will initiate a new partnership with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington D.C. with the commencement of visiting Russian correspondent in October.

The Institute for International Journalism will be hosting Simon Kruse Rasmussen, a Moscow correspondent, Sunday, October 6 through Thursday, October 10. He will speak with Scripps about the intersection between foreign reporting and investigative journalism, as well as use his time here to explore environmental issues of the region.

Alexander coordinated Rasmussen’s visit with the help of CSIS, a nonprofit organization he was exposed to during his reporting days in Washington D.C. CSIS’s aim is to sustain American prominence and prosperity as a force for good in the world.  The CSIS program sends European journalists to America, all expenses paid, to experience how American journalism operates.

The program focuses more on sending journalists to smaller universities. With an excellent journalism program and a small town feel, Alexander believed Scripps School of Journalism in Athens, OH was an ideal candidate for the program.

Now, thanks to Alexander, CSIS and Scripps are beginning what they hope will be a promising partnership, starting with Rasmussen’s visit.

Rasmussen has been in the field for over seven years and is a former fellow for the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. With conflict in Syria heightening tensions between the US and Russia, Rasmussen will serve as an insightful source on Russian politics and the leadership of Vladimir Putin. Currently Rasmussen is in Moscow, writing for Berlingske, a national Danish daily about politics, economics and business in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States, Central Asia and Caucuses.

Alexander believes that Rasmussen’s stay will mark the beginning great opportunities to come as Scripps and CSIS grow in their partnership.

“We’d like to entertain more foreign journalists here because it is a very enriching experience for students,” said Alexander.