Jordanians Explore Multimedia Journalism at UT

A group of Jordanian media professionals recently journeyed to UT's School of Journalism and Electronic Media to learn how they can strengthen journalism education in their home country.

The seven-day trip was part of a continued relationship with Jordan through a $5 million multi-year grant secured with the country and IREX [1], a nonprofit group, by Dr. Sam Swan. [2] Swan is a JEM professor and director of internationalization and outreach for UT's College of Communication and Information. A group of students from Jordan came to UT during the 2007 fall semester and the relationship has continued with the visit of educators this semester.

The two professors and one technician from the Middle Eastern University for Graduate Studies in Amman, Jordan, arrived at UT on Feb. 24 to learn the ins and outs of journalism and electronic media, said Dr. Bob Legg, [3] a JEM associate professor at UT.

"We're doing two things," he said of the collaboration between the country and the school. "One is they don't have the resources to establish something like this in their university, so we're helping them in that factor. And secondly, you're hope is that the journalists will absorb some of our Western/Democratic ideals."

His involvement with the Jordanians began last year during a visit to the country.

"I went over there last summer, interviewed people and saw what was going on with the media on a national basis and then designed a lab for them," Legg said. "They are hoping to do work very similar to us. Television, radio, Web-based, (and) backpack journalism - the whole electronic media and journalism mixture."

The group's trip to UT was designed as a learning experience for the Jordanians, giving them the opportunity to focus on the technical aspect of journalism. Three days were dedicated to training on Avid, a video-editing media composer. The rest of the trip allowed for camera time and talks with faculty about constructing newscasts, said Legg. The group also attended a research symposium on campus and sat in on a JEM 460 class creating a news show.

Legg also became the group's unofficial tour guide. "I have taken them to the hot spots as far as they are concerned, which has been Wal-mart and Best Buy."

Legg's next move will be going to Jordan to set up a broadcast studio at the graduate school. Aside from expanding their knowledge in multimedia journalism, the trip gave both American and Jordanian citizens an opportunity to cross cultural barriers and learn about one another.

"All they see is on the media, which is filtered through the Middle East, so their perception of the United States is erroneous, just wrong," said Legg. "The students that came (last semester), we asked them what was their impression of America. Their answer was ‘We just didn't expect everyone to smile and be so pleasant,' and this group said the same thing. They are just so pleased that everyone seems to be so nice.

"My experience was the same," he said. "I went over there unsure of what to expect and you find that people are people."