On September 28-October 2, the U.S. Embassy brought the Institute of Journalism and Natural Resources (IJNR) founder and former Wall Street Journal reporter, Frank Allen, to Mongolia for a series of meetings, public lectures, and environmental journalism trainings. Mr. Allen’s visit was part of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Information Programs’ (IIP) U.S. Speaker program.
During his visit, Mr. Allen met with the Media Council and professors from the Department of Journalism of the University of Humanities of Mongolia, participated in a roundtable discussion with the Environmental Journalists Club of the Press Institute of Mongolia, held a workshop with Mongolian journalists and students, delivered a presentation at the University of Humanities titled
“Opportunities for Covering the Environment,” and gave a public talk at American Corner in Ulaanbaatar titled “The Environment Beat in America”.
Media Council board member Gunjidmaa Gongor commented, “We were pleased to discuss journalism ethics and media responsibility with Mr. Allen. We believe that responsible and independent journalists will be on the frontline to strengthen democracy in Mongolia.”
The goal of the program was to enhance the ability of Mongolian journalists to analyze and report on natural resource and environmental issues. During his meetings with journalism professionals and students, Mr.Allen offered advice and described the unique challenges inherent to environmental news reporting, the ethical issues facing Mongolia’s journalists, and the difficult and complex environmental stories he reported on during his 40-year, journalism career in U.S.
Each year the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Information Programs (IIP) organizes around 1,300 traveling and electronic events for American experts to engage with foreign audiences worldwide. To learn more about IIP and their programs, click here.
