US Deputy Chief of Mission Terry Steers-Gonzalez last week met with International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) alumna Marcelle Fowler-Thomas, a Senior Reporter at Stabroek News, and was briefed on her experiences during the Investigative Journalism tour of the United States.
Fowler-Thomas joined 20 other journalists from around the world who were exposed to understanding the role that investigative journalists play in American society. The group visited six states: Washington DC, Ohio, Kentucky, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, San Francisco, California and Arizona.
Fowler-Thomas told the Deputy Chief of Mission that among the highlights of the program was a visit to the San Francisco Chronicle, where she had the opportunity to observe editorial planning in action by one of the country’s youngest Editors in Chief and her staff, Audrey Cooper.
It was in San Francisco also that she also met former Editor in Chief of the Boston Globe, Walter Robinson, who has led the Spotlight team in investigating Roman Catholic Clergy abuse, which inspired the 2015 Academy award winning movie, Spotlight.
Noted valuable sessions included how to improve data skills which she said was clearly applicable to a developing country like Guyana, where resources, including official information, are often limited.
A session was also facilitated by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and the Organised Crime and Reporting Project, which according to her, created “a greater awareness of certain methodologies in cross-border collaboration on reporting in corruption. In this case, I believe that the opportunities for networking are available especially since access to information in my domestic jurisdiction is less than satisfactory compared to the United States.”
“The program indeed allowed for me to understand the role that investigative journalists play in the US society as they raise awareness of issues of social concern and report on illegal, irregular or abusive actions committed by government, politicians, criminals and corporations,” she added.
The US State Department boasts that the IVLP is its flagship professional exchange program. It annually brings over 5,000 foreign nationals from all over the world to the US to meet and confer with their professional counterparts and to experience America firsthand. The visitors are current or potential leaders in government, politics, the media, education, the arts, business and other fields.
“Congrats to Marcelle for her participation in the exchange as she now joins an alumni base of current and future leaders in Guyana that have attended an IVLP, the Department of State’s flagship exchange program,” the US Embassy stated.
