Twenty-three broadcast journalists representing five continents and 23 cities visited Denver under the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program. The program, entitled “T.V. Broadcast Journalism in the U.S.,” is administered by Meridian International Center. The journalists traveled the United States for three weeks with stops in Washington, D.C., Denver and Los Angeles. “Many of us are changing our minds about America,” said Samuel Chege, Chief Editor of K-24 in Kenya. “The people here have been very friendly to us.” Chege, who said that America is much different than he anticipated, also said that two things were remarkable to the group. “Every person in America is responsible for their own actions and is accountable to the law, “ he said. “And the media is free. It is not controlled by the government or business or advertisers. You are fortunate. This is not how it is in many of our countries.” According to the U.S. Department of State, the purpose of the program is to review the history, structure, practices and future of television broadcast journalism in the U.S.; to examine how television both influences and reflects American society; and to explore the current and potential contribution of television broadcasting to the formation of an informed citizenry within a diverse, democratic, decentralized society. Members of the traveling broadcast group, as well as many media leaders throughout Colorado and Canada attended a reception July 18 hosted by the Institute of International Education. The event, held at the Denver Athletic Club, boasted a number of local broadcast professionals as well as Director of the Colorado Tourism Office and former State Sentaor Al White, who spoke to the importance of diversity and embracing world issues. Chege also spoke to his perception of how uneducated Americans are about world affairs and the crises facing civilization on other continents. “Americans don’t look beyond America and their own cities and states,” Chege said. “Nobody here even knows that tens of thousands of women and children are dying at the Kenyan border because the Somali refugee camps are overflowing. There is no food, no water and nowhere to go. They can’t go back and they can’t come in, so they are left to die in refugee camps.” As of the reception, Chege said he wasn’t aware of any Colorado media covering what he termed “the worst famine the world has seen in decades.” Chege said he is not hopeful for the future of Somalia in its current situation. “It is run by terrorists. A government cannot even begin to form and take over because the terrorism stronghold is so powerful,” he said. Chege was critical of western media’s lack of coverage of events such as the famine in Somalia and other world crises and the lack of citizen interest in things happening beyond their own small worlds. Not unlike issues that newspaper journalists face in the industry, MaryAnn Navarro of the Philippines said her biggest challenge as a television news chief is localizing everything. Although her coverage territory, Cebu, has a population of nearly one million, finding a local angle and bringing world news to the readers with a local twist is her biggest challenge and the public expectation.