International journalists get, share insight on Ely

(Reprinted from The Ely Echo)

By Tom Coombe

ELY, Minnesota — They’re learning about the United States during a whirlwind tour of the country this summer, but 10 foreign journalists spent much of Monday offering their own perspectives on world affairs and sharing information about their respective nations during a public forum hosted by the Ely Echo.

Participants in the World Press Institute fellows’ tour spent three days in town last week as part of a four-month visit to the United States.

Highlighting their local stay was the forum attended by 70-80 people at the Grand Ely Lodge.

During their visit to Ely, Minnesota, WPI 2005 fellows Raj Kumar K.C. from Nepal and Raphael Gomide from Brazil were interviewed by morning talk show host Mike Jankovec on radio station WELY.

And amid general acknowledgment that journalists often face pressures, particularly from government, about how they cover certain issues, there were some startling revelations about press freedom and the difficulties some face in bringing information to the public.

That was driven home by journalist Anne Jambora of the Philippines.

“The national police have lessons for journalists on how to operate a .45 or .38-caliber handgun,” said Jambora. “The pen is supposed to be mightier than the sword, but in the Philippines that is not the case.”

And while Brazil’s government has evolved from a military dictatorship as recently as 1985 to a democracy today, journalist Raphael Gomide said those in his industry still face challenges.

“Political pressure (sometimes) prevents stories from being printed in my country,” said Gomide. “We (journalists) are proud and we want to tell people the truth. ... What we should do is always look for truth. In some cases there are barriers, and we just have to report what we see.”

They visit media giants including the Washington Post and CNN, tour the Nation’s capital and its largest cities, and meet political leaders and other noted personalities.

Yet organizers of the 44th World Press tour say the Ely visit, which has been a staple of the tour since the 1990s, always ranks as one of the top experiences for the journalists.

“This has turned out to be one of the most memorable segments of the trip the last few years,” said Peter Bradley, development officer for WPI.

Ely Mayor Roger Skraba, one of the participants in the panel discussion, said the community is fortunate to be part of the tour.

“We all have our differences, but we have evolved to the point where we can all sit around at the table and talk about issues,” said Skraba.

The journalists, who spent three nights here in homes of area families and individuals and toured attractions such as the International Wolf Center and entities such as the Voyageur Outward Bound School, addressed national and international issues, their views and perceptions of the United States, and issues related to journalism during the course of a several-hour debate.

Discussion was frank and often touched on the world’s most sensitive issues.

Several journalists said the image of the U.S. government has been impacted negatively in the last several years, most notably because of the country’s military involvement in Iraq.

“In most cases, I think the war in Iraq damaged the view people in Argentina have of the United States,” said Pilar Conci, an international news reporter for a large Buenos Aires daily.

“Brazilians are against (the Iraq war),” said Gomide.

But in Nepal, where illiteracy exceeds 40 percent and the annual per capita income is $230, U.S. involvement has been welcomed, according to reporter Raj Kumar of Katmandu.

“The government of the United States has done a good job by forcing the king to give power to the political parties,” said Kumar.

Nearly all of the journalists said that U.S. culture, from food and clothing to movies and music, has influenced their nation.

“You are the superpower at the moment,” said Matthias Bernold, editor of a newspaper in Vienna, Austria. “You have lots of influence on our culture.”

But not every American influence in Austria, according to Bernold, is exactly like it is here.

“You will find things in the Starbucks in Vienna that you won’t find here,” said Bernold.

Perception of the United States is often shaped by media and entertainment options.

“The government in my country has no influence on the portrayal (of the United States),” said Maureen Chigbo, general editor of Newswatch in Lagos, Nigeria. “Your movie industry and CNN do.”

Chinese journalist Ju Tang, a contributor to CNN World Report, said understanding of the U.S. is more complex.

“There are two levels of understanding,” said Tang. “One is formal, political, the other is about the residents. The people are brave, nice, and generous.”

The journalists represent countries from all corners of the globe, and from different positions on the world political stage.

Romania is set to join the European Union and has been a U.S. ally in Iraq, sending military troops there.

And though Brazil has "a very young democracy," according to Gomide, slavery remains an issue in the country.

Gomide won the 2004 Amnesty International Global Award for Human Rights Journalism for a series of articles on modern-day slavery.

“There are 40,000 people that face this situation,” said Gomide. “They work and don’t get paid. They’re out in the middle of the forest. It’s a terrible life they have. They’re prevented from leaving by armed men and they’re sometimes beaten. Many get malaria.”

Terrorism, ranging from the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks against the United States to the recent bombings in London, were also addressed.

A primary topic was the balancing act governments face between fighting terror and infringing on civil rights.

“Assuming that anybody can be a terrorist affects everybody’s life,” said Gomide.

Just as press freedom varies, so do laws in the journalists’ respective lands as well as the U.S.

It’s illegal for any civilian to possess a firearm in China, according to Ju. Most of the journalists said their nations had similar restrictions on guns.

That flies sharply in contrast to the U.S. and public sentiment against gun control.

“Here we have a saying,” said Skraba. “My wife, yes; my dog, maybe; my gun, never.”

In existence since 1961, the WPI program was founded at Macalester College of St. Paul. It brings journalists from around the world here each year for a four-month visit including study, travel and interviews focused on the national media, government, politics, business, education, technology and culture.

Last year, the journalists visited the headquarters of major national media outlets, met with major political leaders, nationally-noted economists, and common citizens, and were introduced to small-town newspaper coverage in the Echo roundtable. A similar schedule is in place this year.

“All of us have been given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with this program,” said Conci.