Central Asian Journalist-in-Residence Program opens in Austin, Texas

Meridian International and Texas International Education Consortium welcome 10 Central Asian journalists to Texas for a month-long residency and training program

Meridian International Center is excited to announce the launch of the Central Asian Journalist-in-Residence Program (CAJIR), funded by the U.S. Department of State and implemented in partnership with Texas International Education Consortium (TIEC). CAJIR brings journalists from across Central Asia to the Texas for month-long individual residencies designed to increase professional standards, increase the credibility and accuracy of participants’ reporting, and bolster independent media in Central Asia.  Journalists-in-Residence participate in intensive exchanges at American media organizations and journalism training at local universities. Through these residencies, Journalists-in-Residence explore the structure and operations of American media outlets and strengthen their understanding of disinformation and source verification.

Select Central Texas media organizations will each host one to two members of the participants from Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan for individual residency programs. TIEC is proud to partner with host media outlets in Central Texas including KUT, KSAT, KXAN, Rivard Report and the Texas Tribune for the month-long residency programs. The program opened in Austin on October 14-15 with local media experts and professional journalists from around the area welcoming, orienting and preparing the group for their training inside Texas media organizations. TIEC will feature experts from The University of Texas at Austin’s Moody College of Communication and LBJ School for Public Affairs, KUT radio, the Texas Standard, the Texas Politics Project and the Texas Tribune, among others.

The Central Asian Journalist-in-Residence Program is part of the Central Asia Journalism Program funded by the U.S. Department of State and implemented by Meridian International Center in partnership with the Texas International Education Consortium.