Five Czech and five American students—under the direction of Prof. Emeritus Charles Hood of the University of Montana School of Journalism and Prof. Jan Krecek of Charles University’s Media Studies Program in Prague—teamed up in the summer of 2007 for a unique reporting project: to compare and contrast the Czech Roma and American Indian minorities in their respective countries.
The aim of this groundbreaking project is to improve the students’ skills and knowledge in reporting about minority cultures and to provide the public with previously unpublished information on these issues. The international team spent three weeks in the Czech Republic, visiting Roma communities and interviewing experts on minority issues, and three weeks in Montana, visiting Indian reservations, Native American inmates in the Montana State Prison and officials in the state capital of Helena. The students produced some 50 news articles, interview pieces, commentaries, photo stories, multi-media items and blog contributions, all posted on this site.
Denny Lester, former UM journalism student and now newsroom graphic artist at the Helena Independent Record, and Printer Bowler, instructor at the UM School of Journalism, worked with the students to design and build this online publication.
The program received administrative support and guidance from Dean Jerry Brown of the University of Montana and Jan Jirak, vice provost of the Charles University Faculty of Social Sciences.
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