25 October 2010

Podcast on the Fifth Annual Murrow Program for Journalists

Listen to the audio file (MP3)

Narrator:

Edward R. Murrow was an American broadcast journalist and a pioneer of television journalism. He played an important role in informing citizens around the world of some the most consequential events of the 20th century. From London, he delivered a series of radio news broadcasts during World War II that were followed by millions of listeners in the United States and Canada.

Radio announcer:

Tonight from London, Edward R. Murrow.

Edward R. Murrow:

This is London. Five in the morning. People do a great deal of walking in London these days, but much of mine is done at night. Moonlit nights are best. There's less danger of walking into lampposts or stumbling over the curb. The weather stains on old buildings of gray portland stone look like familiar friendly faces. The city is absolutely quiet, like a ghost town in Nevada. At dawn, that'll be about an hour from now, the mist goes floating upward from the water in Regent's Park. And the feet of the milkman's horse sounds soft and muffled on the old wooden paving block. Occasionally the cart will lurch, and a milk bottle rattle, as one wheel dropped into a whole burnt by one of last winter's incendiary bombs.

Narrator:

Fellow journalists considered Murrow one of journalism's greatest figures. Today, Murrow's reputation for honesty and integrity in delivering the news has inspired journalists everywhere to follow his example. This year, the U.S. State Department, along with the Aspen Institute and 11 leading journalism schools in the United States, will bring 150 emerging leaders in the field of journalism to participate in the fifth annual Edward R. Murrow Program for Journalists from October 25th to November 12th.

The Murrow Program is an innovative public-private partnership.  Working in conjunction with U.S. journalism schools across the country, the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs developed a specialized International Visitor Leadership Program to engage young international media professionals in dialogue with their U.S. counterparts. After initial programs in the nation’s capital, the participants travel in smaller groups for field activities with faculty and students at one of the partner schools of journalism.

The visitors travel to contrasting American cities to gain an understanding of media coverage of state politics and government and to observe American civic life and grassroots involvement in political affairs in smaller towns.

The program will conclude in New York City, with visits to major media outlets and a symposium to highlight current trends and challenges facing the media in the United States and around the world.

The Edward R. Murrow Program for Journalists is part of the prestigious International Visitor Leadership Program, or IVLP, which brings over 4,500 participants to the United States from around the world each year to meet and engage with their professional counterparts. More than 300 current and former heads of government or chiefs of state, thousands of cabinet-level ministers, and many other distinguished world leaders in government and the private sector have participated in the International Visitor Leadership Program.

To learn more about the Edward R. Murrow Program for Journalists, visit the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs online at exchanges.state.gov.

Narrator:

This podcast is produced by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of International Information Programs. Links to other Internet sites or opinions expressed should not be considered an endorsement of other content and views.

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov)