Ghanaian journalist visits Footbridge Forum

photo by Lizz Rauf

Janet Dabire

A special guest attended the March 21 airing of the KBGA program "Footbridge Forum" – Ghanaian broadcast journalist Janet Dabire. Dabire was invited to attend the broadcast as part of a Fanning International Fellowship for Journalism and Democracy, an award given by the Kettering Foundation. Dabire has been working with foundation in Dayton, Ohio, and came to Missoula for three days to listen in on the broadcast.

The Kettering Foundation fellowships are designed to help journalists from emerging democracies — often in Africa — study the intersection of media and democracy in the United States, said R-TV Professor Denise Dowling. The fellows spend six months in the U.S., Dowling said, "researching how the media assists, fails to assist or promotes democracy in the United States."

The Kettering Foundation helps fund the "Footbridge Forum," a program that encourages citizen debate over issues pertinent to the community. The March 21 broadcast was titled: “Is College for Everyone?”

“I think it went very well,” Dabire said of the program.  “I think it gave the impression that college is for everyone . . . but cost is a big preventative.”

After leaving Missoula Dabire flew to Spokane to spend some time at the Spokesman-Review.

Dowling said of Dabire: "She's all about how the public interfaces with the media and how that promotes democracy."

- Emily Darrell

Former professor to be Fulbright scholar in Jordan

photo by Michelle Gomes

Former professor Bill Knowles

Former professor Bill Knowles has been awarded a Fulbright grant to teach journalism in Jordan for the 2007-08 academic year.

Though he retired from the University last year, Knowles feels that he “still has some years left” to teach his breadth of journalism experience to students.

Knowles said he is interested in the Middle East and has wanted to teach there for some time. The director of the Fulbright program felt that Jordan was perhaps the best country in the region for him to teach in, he said.

“Just because the area is troubled doesn’t mean the people can’t understand the straight-ahead journalism, free of political bias, that the American media practices,” Knowles said.

Journalism theory is often taught in the area, said Knowles, but he will take a more hands-on approach to teaching. His grant is still in the early stages of negotiation, but Knowles believes he will be teaching all over the country.

— James Laber

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