First week in a global newsroom

Journalists from across the world converged in Sweden last week as we all started a master’s program in global journalism.

Our 25 students come from Germany, Ethiopia, Romania, Russia, Pakistan, Uganda, Poland, Armenia, Turkey, Iran, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Vietnam, Egypt, two (including me) from the U.S., Sweden, and I’m sure others I’m missing. Most have journalistic or language-related experience, such as the man from Egypt who has spent time converting English to Arabic, or the woman from Vietnam who worked for the Vietnam News Agency.

We’ve only had our introductory class so far, but already I can tell this is going to be an interesting group for many thoughtful discussions.

Whenever I'm asked where I'm from, I say the U.S., which gets a generally acceptable response from most, but when I mention Texas, I'll either get an outspoken person say, "so, you're a red-blooded Republican from Bush country" or another who just stares at me awkwardly. Let's just say I've had many a conversation about the various viewpoints that (to many, surprisingly) can be found in this state.

This semester we're taking two courses, an intro class called “global journalism, global media” and another called “online investigative journalism.” Toward the middle of the semester, we’re going to Helsinki, Finland, for one week of an intensive study course and then will return to complete the work on this class.

We’ve had some orientations for all international master’s students, not just my program, that in some ways made me feel like a starting undergrad. We were taken step-by-step through processes like how to research in the library, how to set up your student account, and so on. But, in this case, it makes sense because much of the system is in Swedish, and so we need the extra guidance to understand.

Another orientation topic was Swedish customs. A constant custom of discussion is fika, which is a break or meeting with others, socially or professionally, for coffee and a pastry. This typically is in the mid-morning or afternoon, but really can be anytime. It was amusing to me how very important the Swedes made this custom.

Tomorrow I have intro to the global journalism program, Part 2. On Wednesday, it’s an intro to the first course. And, finally, we begin with our first official class on Thursday.


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