International Media Institute in India

The International Center for Journalists announced in October 2009 the launch of the International Media Institute of India (IMII) in New Delhi, a non-profit educational center that will marry cutting-edge, hands-on journalism instruction with the highest international standards. The institute will be run by ICFJ in collaboration with leading Indian editors, who conceived the idea for the school when they experienced difficulty in finding skilled entry-level journalists to hire. ICFJ's partner in this initiative is the Society for Policy Studies (SPS).

The institute is funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The Graduate School of Journalism of the City University of New York (CUNY) is providing curriculum support.

The school is opening at a pivotal time in the Indian trajectory. The mass-media in India is experiencing unprecedented growth as the economy is becoming even more global in certain niches and overall literacy rates rise. This has created an urgent need for journalists who can produce reliable coverage of a country that has become a major global player.

"This new program, with its professional and very practical approach, will meet the demand for high-quality reporters and editors able to use the new array of media tools and techniques," says ICFJ President Joyce Barnathan.

The institute will hire international and Indian faculty, "bringing the best of both worlds to that task," says Tarun Basu, president of SPS and chief editor of the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS). "More than ever, we need trained, ethical journalists to meet the rigorous standards that the public expects of an exalted profession and a growing industry."

The CUNY Graduate School of Journalism is helping ICFJ and its partners to create a state-of- art curriculum that prepares students for the digital media era.

URL: www.imii.co.in

Washington Leadership Program

Not too many people may be aware about an highly appreciated initiative on Capitol Hill where young Indian Americans intern with influential US Congressmen and Senators under a project seminally titled the Washington Leadership Programme (WLP).

Run for 15 years by the Indian American Center for Political Awareness (IACPA), a non-profit organization based in Washington, the objective of WLP, begun by the late visionary publisher Gopal Raju, was to sensitize Indian American youth to American politics and motivate at least some of them to consider taking up politics as a career.

The idea was for the community, that was growing in size, visibility, reputation and importance, to develop a stake in the American system and be in a position to influence and participate in decision making that impacted on their lives.

Thus far, more than 65 Representatives and 15 Senators, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and several co-chairs of the Indian American Caucus, have hosted some 200 WLP interns since the programme's inception.

Its 200-strong alumni have helped fashion the defeat of the so-called Burton Amendment to restrict foreign aid to India and also rallied the Indian American community around India's Civilian Nuclear Agreement with the US.

In philanthropy, they also helped numerous fund-raising efforts in the US for extending support to the victims of national calamities in India, be it the Gujarat earth quake or the the tsunami in India. In fact, their all-round efforts were visible enough to elicit comments from the US business community, lobbyists, lawmakers, civil society and even former President George W. Bush.

In late 1990s, WLP - in association with the Society for Policy Studies (SPS), expanded its scope by sending six interns to visit India for about a week to understand the political process followed in the world's largest democracy and interact with key policy-makers, think-tanks and leaders of civil society as India rose in importance on the US diplomatic and strategic radar.

The objective was for the interns, many of whom were coming to India for the first time, to have direct knowledge about India's politics, processes of governance, official policies and socio-cultural practices so that they bring this knowledge and experience to bear in their deliberations and debates on matters impacting and relating to India in the USA.

These interns interacted with Indian ministers and senior officials, policymakers, lawmakers, strategic analysts and business leaders at the highest level during the three years of this India orientation programme. Among those who met them were then National Security Adviser J.N. Dixit, then foreign secretary Lalit Mansingh, cabinet ministers including Jaipal Reddy, Mani Shankar Aiyar, Leader of the Opposition L.K. Advani, Parliament Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia, leaders from the business chambers, media personalities and others.

It is significant that among the 2005 batch, one of the interns who visited India was working with then Senator Hillary Clinton.

SPS has been actively associated with the WLP programme by not only facilitating their visits to India but also giving key inputs on how the ties between the two largest democracies can be further strengthened. With its contacts and reputation,

SPS has also helped the interns interact with key policy makers, political and civil society leaders. The focus has also been on using the talent and resources of the Indian diaspora -- their expertise, time and money -- to help India and Indians wherever such help is needed.

These young Indian Americans hold a highly beneficial and productive potential for furthering civic and political engagement between India and the US – one that can influence public policy and benefit US-India relations. The efforts of the WLP alumni, in fact, has helped expand the membership of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, which is now the largest such lobby group on Capitol Hill after the Black Caucus.

URL : http://www.thewlp.com/

South Asia Resource Centre

There has been a longstanding need to create a comprehensive resource base for South Asia, not just for the eight countries that constitute it, but, more importantly, for the rest of the world which is increasingly drawn into its triumphs and travails.

Until recently, there has not been a single comprehensive source that global planners and policymakers can turn to for highly informed perspectives on South Asia. The South Asia Resource Centre (SARC), incubated by SPS, fills that enormous economic, political and cultural intelligence gap.

The goal of the South Asia Resource Centre (SARC) is to become a single-window resource on all debates concerning policy, politics and people in the South Asian region.

Its stated objectives are to to become a storehouse of comprehensive and credible information and analyses on South Asia, create a platform to deliberate on key political and economic issues pertaining to and affecting South Asia and bring together the best minds in public policy, media, environment and economy to facilitate discussion and informed opinion.

South Asia Monitor: The Society hosts a Web-based forum called the South Asia Monitor, a window to the region. The forum -- www.southasiamonitor.org -- seeks to provide a perspective on the region on issues including strategic affairs, security, conflict management, diplomacy, economy and soft power.

URL: www.southasiamonitor.org