International Visitor Leadership Program

The Skanner News staff met Oct. 11 with a group of international journalists visiting the United States under the auspices of the Department of State's International Visitor Leadership Program. Their program is arranged by Meridian International Center.

Kyung Jin Kim of the Korean Broadcasting System donned The Skanner hoodie for her day in the Portland weather.The purpose of the visit was to review the history and importance of press freedom in the United States; examine the structure, practices, and future of broadcast journalism in the U.S.; illustrate how new technologies shape the way news is gathered, reported, distributed, and consumed; explore the crucial role of responsibility and accuracy in reporting in a democracy and the efforts of fact checking groups; examine how broadcast media influences and reflects American society; an demonstrate the influence of social media and digital technologies on how citizens use and share information.

Pictured above is the group. The group included the following people (not listed in order of appearance):

Ms. Helen Alexandra Davidson, Reporter, The Guardian Australia, Australia
Mr. Yan Myo Naing, Assistant Editor, 7 Day Digital, Burma
Mr. Socheat Bin, Executive Director, Club of Cambodian Journalists, Cambodia
Mr. Maulana Arief, Lecturer, Communication Management, Sekolah Tinggi Teknik Malang (Malang Engineering School), Indonesia
Mr. Rikamati Naare, Editor, Radio Kiribati News, Kiribati 
Ms. Erdenechimeg Batbold, Journalist, GoGo.mn, Mongolia
Mr. Tobias Joseph Manhire, Senior Editor and Writer, The Spinoff, New Zealand
Mr. Meriba James Tomakala Tulo, Producer and Senior Reporter, Media Niugini Ltd., EMTV, Papua New Guinea
Ms. Patricia Marie Ignacio Ranada, Reporter, Rappler, Inc., Philippines
Ms. Kyung Jin Kim, Staff Reporter, Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), Republic of Korea
Ms. Kultida Samabuddhi, Content Editor, ThaiPBS, Thailand
Mr. Virgilio da Silva Guterres, President of Timor Leste Press Council, Timor Leste Press Council, Timor Leste
Ms. Phuong Lan Pham, Editor, Thanh Nien Newspaper, Vietnam