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As I recently left Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, to embark on a series of more than 30 – hour flights to Pullman, thousands of jubilant Ethiopians were walking down the boulevard in front of the airport. hotel where I have lived these past four months. guest professor of journalism at Bahir Dar University, where 53,000 students are attending school
Exposed in green, yellow and red – the national colors of Ethiopia – it seemed that the entire city was supporting the newly elected ones.
The fact that Ahmed was the same age as John F. Kennedy was resonated with me in 1960.
I was 12 years old and that year and I remember the 39 JFK inauguration and the same kind of momentum and hope that have supported most Americans by its abbreviated presidency.
Ahmed, as JFK tried to do in America, strives to unite a diverse and sometimes ethnically divisive nation, a worthy goal that seems to be the conscience or
My sponsor in Ethiopia was the program of Ambbadador Distinguished Scholar, sponsored by the United States Embbady in Addis Ababa and the International Institute of Education.
My mission was to teach democratic journalism to graduate students. to foster journalistic professionalism and skills that will contribute to Ethiopia's development and democracy in Africa in general.
International students, of course, always question me about the false phenomenon our president uses for his selfish fear campaigns since taking office in 2016.
In Ethiopia, they have real false news because the Ethiopians have been living under strict government censorship for decades. The journalism students I taught never hoped to practice free and responsible journalism taught at the School of Journalism and Media at the University of Idaho and at the College of Journalism. Edward R. Murrow's communication from the Washington State University
. was able to tell them what they could expect if they are able to practice independent journalism which is the hallmark of the traditional American press and the tradition of this newspaper that you are reading [19659010]. a timely moment for me to explain the history of the American press resulting from the rights of the First Amendment and the professionalization of journalism after the era of the yellow press of the 1890s.
Being the The only outspoken outsider in the crowd who walked Sunday a celebration of nascent democracy was initially daunting because our embbady warned US citizens abroad to be wary of crowds and demonstrations, but after four In the month of Bahir Dar, there seemed to be nothing to fear.
As a traveling professor teaching journalism in more than 40 developing countries and traveling as a tourist on public transport, I have rarely felt the danger or the hostility.
My own conclusion is that, if citizens are not armed – like the Taliban or ISIS – as a large part of the American population, the chances of being a victim of violence diminish greatly.
Wherever I travel, people are horrified by gun violence in America as sanctioned by our second amendment.
The world is hungry for the rights granted under our first amendment, but few other countries want to pbad laws that endanger children in schools.
America is progressive in many ways, but regressive in others.
These new journalism schools were a reaction to irresponsible and sensational press practices – epitomized Foxed News today – and dedicated to the antithesis of producing fake news.
The tradition of producing trained journalists who are by nature and education unable to pursue anything but the facts in a socially responsible manner is spread regularly to the WSU Murrow College and School. UI Journalism and Media
Richard Shafer retired as a professor of journalism at the University of North Dakota. He will teach journalism as a lecturer at the WSU in the fall. He recently returned from teaching in Ethiopia with the program of Ambbadador Distinguished Scholar. His wife, Dr. Jill Shafer, is part of the WSU team.
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