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African diary - Kenya

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State Dept. Sponsored Trip

By: flyover0909 (Registered ) on 26-06-2008 13:50

Did I read this correctly that our government paid for this?

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Government sponsorship

By: freivogel (Registered ) on 27-06-2008 15:05

Yes, you did read it right. The State Department awarded a grant to a colleague of mine at SIUC School of Journalism to conduct journalism workshops in East Africa and to study HIV AIDS there. My own view is that this is money well spent. There is a robust discussion of free speech and free press on a developing continent. The State Dept. doesn't tell us what to say. In fact, I've only seen a State Dept. official at one of our workshops over two summers. At that workshop in Addis Ababa last year, I began my discussion of the freedom of the press by pointing out our embassy people and then describing my work at the Post-Dispatch writing scores of editorials against the war in Iraq. My point, of course, was that I was perfectly free to disagree with U.S. government policy in front of U.S. government officials at a U.S. funded workshop. I only wish the U.S. government spent more money on public diplomacy. Apparently, U.S. embassy officials once had a lot of contact with groups such as ours. Sadly, there isn't much contact now, possibly because there isn't enough money spent on public diplomacy. Hope this helps.

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