Ramallah broadcast journalists Rawan Qahaz, left, and Hasan Hussein participate in a discussion with their American trainers. (Photo by Matt Nager)

If not wrapped in a Middle-Eastern accent, the words could have come from any of the broadcasting students at the School describing what they hope to glean from their classes:

"I want to learn how to write an extremely short story for TV with intensive information while keeping away from junk words. I am working hard to get as much as I can to improve my skills in TV and performance."

The statement came from Tunisia TV correspondent Issam Badran, one of 13 West Bank journalists who arrived at the School on April 4 for five weeks of journalism instruction. All training is done through Arabic interpreters.

"It takes 40 percent longer to get through," said project coordinator Doug Cosper (MA '83), but he added that other than the extra time, translations are not a problem.

"They are all professional journalists," he said. "They come with quite a few skills; they are not amateurs."

Indeed, in discussions it quickly became clear that trainers and trainees largely saw eye-to-eye on the principles of good journalism.

"If you see something, believe half of it. If you hear something, don't believe it," said Amjad Subhi, journalist and owner of Hebron Radio.

The School competed with several colleges and universities to receive a $190,000 grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development to train the 10 male and three female journalists as part of the Commitment to Peace through the Fourth Estate program. The program is sponsored by the independent federal agency USAID in collaboration with the Academy for Educational Development.

Dean Paul Voakes asked Cosper, an adjunct instructor in print news at the School with experience in training journalists in developing countries, to write the proposal and coordinate the program.

"The school has been adopting a more global outlook in recent years, and this grant enables us to reach out to – as well as learn from – journalists in a very different part of the world," Voakes said.

At the county courthouse, Boulder County spokesman Jim Burrus shares PR secrets. (Photo by Matt Nager)

Cosper said the course is designed to reinforce the reporting and writing skills of the print, radio and TV journalists and perhaps give them a few new tools with which to perform their role of nurturing an informed electorate and facilitating the democratic process among Palestinians. The learning will not be one-way, he said.

"These Palestinian journalists will teach us as much as we will teach them," he said. "We will have the opportunity to look at our own media through the eyes of colleagues who work under some very demanding conditions.

"Journalists who train colleagues from developing areas always emerge from the experience reminded of their solemn responsibility to democracy and of how often we fall short of that responsibility."

Trainers and CU faculty members plan to establish mentor relationships with the participants and introduce them to colleagues in Colorado who can coach them in the United States and stay in touch professionally after they have returned to the West Bank to work.

"It is our hope that the relationships the journalists form here will continue long after they have departed," Cosper said. "Our goal is to offer encouragement and professional assistance as they develop in their careers."
Those involved with training for the six-week program include Cosper, adjunct instructor and former national editor at The Denver Post Michelle Fulcher ('78), instructor and former CNN producer Vicky Sama (MA '02), Boulder free-lancer Jim Moscou (MA ‘95), Palestinian-American journalist and former CNN World Report correspondent Nadine Alfa, doctoral student May Farah, master's student and former Palestinian journalist Rania Elhelo, and master's student and electronic-information specialist Justin Crawford.
The Palestinian journalists will spend five weeks in Boulder and the last week in Washington, D.C., where they will tour national news outlets such as CNN and The Washington Post.

For 33-year-old Sahar Abdel Hadi, being a female journalist in the Middle East can present challenges. Tariq Al Mahabeh (The Love Lane), the radio station she works for, is the first in the West Bank and second in Palestine, she said.

"It was difficult at first because people in our country do not accept for a young single woman to be out late at night to work. I think they got used to it, though. My family supported me the entire time," she said.

Because of the ongoing conflict in Palestine, reporting can be complicated and even dangerous.

"It is difficult to cover some stories because of the checkpoints," Hadi said. "In the U.S., you have the opportunity to express what you want, when you want, how you want. We have limits from the Palestinian authority. We are censored by the Israelis."

Badran said, "The Israeli Government Press Office does not give Palestinian journalists accreditation." Without a press card, it is difficult for journalists to get through checkpoints, he said, adding that it can sometimes take three hours to get someplace that normally takes 10-15 minutes.

"(Journalism) is exciting, dangerous, risky (with) tremendous obstacles," Badran said.

Even with the number of difficulties they face, their passion for journalism seems evident in their dedication and attitudes.

"I will not let my nationality interfere with my work," Subhi said.

At 31, Subhi has been a journalist for 12 years.

"To be a journalist is to verify and bring truth to the audience, to inform them," he said.

He described how he was stopped and questioned by Israeli officials on his way home from work one day. He tried telling them that he knew nothing and was only on his way home.

"They do investigations and try to find your weaknesses; you have to give them yes-no answers, or they will press you to find out more. They are very clever," he said.

He said his name was put into a computer, preventing him from leaving the country for four years for "national security reasons."

There have been cases in which journalists were bribed into becoming spies because they were offered money or blackmailed, Subhi said.

The program follows a calendar of strictly scheduled events that demand intensive work. The curriculum includes a wide range of topics in Western journalism such as ethics, laws, investigative reporting, photography and more.

The Palestinians said they have their own goals and expectations from the program and their time in Boulder.

"We hope to learn about media and gain skills to compare media in our country to the USA," Hadi said.

As journalists, they expressed a lot of the same ideas that are taught at the School.

"Some people feel they have to defend justice and draw opinion in news, which is unprofessional," Badran said. "Journalism has to be objective, balanced and accurate. It is not my duty to give solutions but to expose and talk about issues."