Journalism Students Hone their Skills at Embassy-Supported Summer Camp

July 24, 2008

Journalism students from the Slovak and Czech Republics met, beginning on July 19, in Spisska Nova Ves for the first annual Summer Journalism Camp. The program consisted of a series of workshops taught by leading print journalists, television news specialists and Internet reporting experts. The Embassy supported this camp with a modest grant and by offering a workshop led by Information Officer Keith Hughes and summer intern Jonathan Leitch. The workshop -- designed to explore the necessity of a free press -- started off with the screening of a film exploring how the United States safeguards freedom of the press. The film itself is the product of an Embassy-supported television cooperative program. After the film, Hughes and Leitch led a discussion on the role of an independent press in democracies, media literacy and the role of the press in politics-both historically and in the current race for the White House. Televizia Reduta, the local television station and one of the key sponsors of the program, covered the week-long camp extensively.