Congressional Districts Visited by IVLP Participants in 2015

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Congressional Districts Visited by IVLP Participants in 2015

Each year, in order to track the geographic diversity of our programming, we collect a list of the cities that our visitors see as they travel across the country. Last marked the 75th Anniversary of the International Visitor Leadership Program. Using the list of cities from that year we constructed a map to visually show our visitors travels. Would the data points cluster near the coast or major cities? What if we overlaid it with congressional districts? How would the spread be with red and blue districts? In the following maps we tried to discover the answers to those questions and more and the results might be surprising.

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Exchange Programs and World Press Freedom Day

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Participants in the Media Literacy: Promoting Civil Society through New Media program at the Foreign Press Center in New York. Photo credit: Brittany Lynk

Every 3rd of May, the world celebrates World Press Freedom Day to evaluate the freedom of journalists worldwide and to defend attacks on media. In 1993, the UN General Assembly proclaimed this date to act as a reminder for governments to respect their commitment to press freedom and for media professionals to reflect upon ethical issues in their field. Thousands of journalists, writers, activists and leaders recognize World Press Freedom Day as a way to address the main challenges concerning the freedom of information. Meridian’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) visitors address this subject matter by engaging in the power of international exchange through different experiences and ideas. Continue  

Visitors from Japan will explore U.S. trends in energy and environmental regulations

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Shigeki Kagiwada, Assistant Director for International Affairs in the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan meets with U.S. Congressman Marsha Blackburn prior to Prime Minister Abe's address to Congress.

Welcome 2016 participants

Kazutaka Nakagawa and Mitsuo Nagai will begin their year-long Global Government-to-Government Partnership (G3P) this month. Following an introductory tour of U.S. economic revitalization efforts in Greensboro, NC, Cincinnati, OH and Portland, OR, the two participants will immerse themselves in English-language training. These initial activities prepare them for individualized research projects, which are the capstone of the program.

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Digital Media in the U.S. & Australia: IVLP Alumna Shares Key Takeaways from Exchange

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(Erin Vincent visiting the Foreign Press Centre in Washington.)

This article is reposted from the Australian Broadcast Corporation’s (ABC) Back Story blog. Erin Vincent is the Executive Producer for ABC’s News Breakfast program. She participated in an International Visitor Leadership Program that I organized in the summer of 2015. Erin Vincent was selected to participate in the U.S. State Department professional exchange program, the International Visitor Leadership Program, ‘Broadcast Journalism: New and Traditional Media’. 22 journalists from all over the world travelled through Washington, Syracuse, Portland and Chicago to hear from U.S. media professionals and tour media outlets to gain a deeper understanding of the history, practices and...

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Program Theme Spotlight: Countering Violent Extremism

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Participants on a Women Countering Violent Extremism project met with Facebook to discuss the use of social media to effectively counter extremist messaging.

Secretary of State John Kerry stated recently that violent extremism may well be “the defining challenge of our generation.” Given this reality, many International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) projects are focusing on best practices to counter radicalization and violent extremism. Their goal is to create a global knowledge network that develops strategies for ongoing cooperation in these efforts.

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