January 27, 2006

Jerome Aumente, Rutgers University Professor Emeritus,
Develops Programs for Arab and American Journalists

Following a series of successful seminars he conducted in which top Arab and American journalists exchanged experiences in covering major international issues in Iraq and the Middle East, Jerome Aumente, Rutgers University Professor Emeritus is designing an Internet and Exchange program to build a permanent communication bridge among journalists and universities worldwide.

Aumente, is Distinguished Professor Emeritus and Counselor to the Dean in the School of Communication , Information and Library Studies (SCILS), at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. In semi-retirement, he is also a Bentonville, Virginia resident who travels frequently from his Blue Ridge mountain home in the Shenandoah Valley on global assignments, or for projects in New Jersey including a book he is writing on the history of newspapers there for the New Jersey Press Association.

Most recently, he was invited to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia to deliver a paper at King Saud University outlining his Internet project, and to conduct workshops for Arab journalists on covering health issues, and economic, business and financial topics at the Al Faisal International Academy. His work regularly takes him to Russia where he is evaluator for a program of Moscow State University and the University of Missouri Schools of Journalism. He completed a series of training workshops in the Balkans, most recently in Macedonia and Montenegro , and before that in Croatia , Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

He has conducted five intensive workshops in the United States for Arab journalists from eleven different countries. The most recent of these for Iraqi journalists, included a private meeting last Fall at the White House with President George W. Bush, Under Secretary of State Karen Hughes and Assistant Secretary of State Dina Powell. The Iraqi journalists had a candid exchange on issues and they and Aumente `were later invited by President Bush to the Oval Office for individual picture taking with him.

The workshops in the United States for Arab journalists included three, three-week workshops in 2004, and two, two-week workshops in 2005 which were co-developed and directed by Aumente with Meridian International Center in Washington, DC, and with support from the U.S. State Department ‘s Foreign Press Centers, and its Arab Media Outreach Center at the American Embassy in London. His recent trip to Riyadh was sponsored by the Saudi Association for Media and Communication, an alliance of university academics, journalism and media professionals.

“The US workshops with the Arab journalists included briefings at the State Department, the Pentagon and the White House, and extended sessions with top editors and journalists from America ’s key news media ,” Aumente said. “ It was in discussions with editors from The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, NBC, CBS, ABC, MSNBC, CNN , Associated Press, Reuters, National Public Radio, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, and regional newspapers including The Record , and The Star Ledger in New Jersey and News and Raleigh Observer in North Carolina that the idea for a permanent Internet exchange took root.”

The Arab journalists from major satellite television stations. newspapers, magazines and Internet operations included nationals from Iraq , Lebanon , Tunisia , Algeria , Egypt , the United Arab Emirates , Qatar , Saudi Arabia , Jordan , Sudan and Syria . The news broadcast organizations included: Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya, Lebanon Broadcasting Corporation, Al-Mustakillah, Al-Hurriya, and Arab News Network. The newspapers included Al Hayat, Al Sharq al-Awsat, Al- Ahram, L’Orient-Le Jour, Al –Mada, Azzaman, Al Waqa, Al-Anbaa, Diwabiya, and journalists from the London and Paris offices of the pan Arab news media.

“In traveling with the Arab journalists for a total of thirteen weeks; in extended group and individual exchanges and in a continuing flow of e-mails that keep us in touch, the ideas for a permanent platform to keep the American and Arab journalism professional exchanging ideas took shape.” Aumente said. “ It was during meetings with Ted Koppel, then anchor for ABC Nightline; in discussions at NBC and CBS, at The New York Times with Bill Keller, executive editor and his colleagues, and at MSNBC with its president, Rick Kaplan, and his editors that we explored all of this in more detail.”

There was general agreement that both sides—Arab and American--- would benefit from a specialized website to talk individually or in groups via the Internet; swap story ideas and background; plan future face-to-face meetings, and assist with contacts when journalists visit each others countries on assignment, Aumente explained.

“We will spend much of 2006 seeking funding for the project and Rutgers University , SCILS, and Meridian International Center will play key roles in the program development and operation.” Aumente said. He was founding director of the Journalism Resources Institute and founding chair of the journalism department, both in

SCILS, and the institute will also play a significant role in the new endeavor.

While director of JRI, over 14,000 journalists took part in the institute’s programs. Overseas, Aumente directed major programs in Poland after the election of Solidarity and the fall of Communism--- with a media center in Warsaw , and aid to Jagiellonian University in Krakow in creating an international school of journalism. He later developed a program to assist University of Sarajevo’s journalism curriculum, and provided help to universities in Tuzla and Banja Luka .

His other journalism training travels have included Spain, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the former Yugoslavia, Russia, and in Latin America and the Caribbean, Jamaica, Panama., Colombia and Puerto Rico. Since 1989 he has traveled overseas more than 130 times on projects, and programs he developed or directed total over $7 million in grants since joining Rutgers in 1969.

“The journalists all agree that we need to get a deeper , more substantive understanding of each other’s cultures, values and the complex political, economic, religious and social forces that affect our perceptions of each other,” Aumente said. “ To do this we can build a database of research materials, contacts and exchange of ideas. Over time, this will be invaluable for students and faculty from many universities interested in journalism and the role of the West, Islamic and Arab worlds.”

Aumente wants to see an alliance of universities and media organizations working together on these goals. He believes it is essential for journalists to build on their experience by learning or living in diverse cultural environments, and constantly expanding and refreshing their range of experience.

In the previous seminars, the Arab journalists enjoyed the high level meetings with government offices, policymakers, think tanks and news media. But they also valued the chance to visit in homes as guests of Americans; watch the presidential campaign unfold, or view a televised presidential debate with North Carolinians and then discuss their impressions. In New Jersey , The Record newspaper in Hackensack cosponsored a series of visits to the paper, followed by meetings with civic leaders, elected officials and journalists in the Arab-American community of Paterson , NJ .

Aumente would like to expand the visits of international journalists in Washington and New York City with government policymakers and key media organizations, and see life in New Jersey in a major metropolitan exposure. But he also hopes to share the natural beauty of Virginia’s mountain, valley and seaside environments, and invite Virginia civic groups and universities into the exchange process. The Arab journalists have been generous in sharing their cultures and experience with American visitors.

“The Internet project will allow us to continue and expand the dialogue with the Arab World,” Aumente said.” It is a platform on which we can add many players, first the journalists and then the universities, students and faculties, and eventually other segments of our societies who wish to join in the dialogue in a search for common ground.”

For further information, please contact Professor Jerome Aumente at Long Mountain, 617 Seven Oaks Drive, Bentonville, Virginia 22610 , USA . Tel : 540-635-6395.

E-mail: aumente@scils.rutgers.edu or jeromeaumente@worldnet.att.net