Classes Meet Media Professionals in France

Students in RTV 4930 and 4931 met with National Public Radio's Eleanor Beardsley while in Paris to talk about the challenges of being an international journalist. She discussed covering the Sarkozy election and administration, along with many other topics. Beardsley also told students about the ethics issues associated with working as a reporter in another culture.

Beardsley, whose father is a graduate of the University of Florida, files stories from Europe for Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and MarketPlace, among other NPR programs.

Both classes also toured France 24, a relatively new 24-hour news channel based in Paris. The station's signal is streamed live on line and covers diverse communities within France and beyond. Students learned about how the channel program three signals simultaneously in French, English and Arabic.

Expanding Horizons or Taking Advantage?

What do you think of the trend of so-called "Poverty Tourism"? The Wall Street Journal wrote about this kind of trip where tourists pay to see people living in some of the worst conditions in the world. Supporters say it helps increase awareness of the lives of the most-often ignored people in society and benefits them financially at the same time. Opponents say it exploits people for the benefit of others. What do you think? Post your comments here.

Twittering Your Research

Are you Twittering or thinking about it? New York Times reporter Matt Gross writes the "Frugal Traveler" column for the newspaper and recommends Twitter as a way of gathering up-to-the-minute travel information when you're researching a new location.

Here's more on his experiences: http://frugaltraveler.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/01/help-for-travelers-twitter/?ref=travel If you want to follow his Tweets, he's at http://twitter.com/frugaltraveler