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Mission
The International Center for Media and the Public Agenda was established by the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland in summer of 2006. ICMPA aims to create on campus a central place for media and public policy teaching and research. ICMPA takes as its focus the study of global media and public policy; its projects investigate media’s roles and responsibilities in public consideration of political issues. ICMPA research and other projects extend the College of Journalism’s teaching and research mission. ICMPA is also affiliated with the School of Public Policy.
Major Projects
ICMPA is engaged in major grant-seeking to underwrite its projects. Current in-house projects include:
Salzburg Academy for Media & Global Change
ICMPA, the College of Journalism and the University of Maryland are partnering with the Salzburg Seminar to establish the “Salzburg Academy Program on Media and Global Change.” Summer 2007 will be the pilot year for the program. The 3-week summer session will bring together a global faculty and 60 undergraduates and graduates to live and study in residence in Austria. Two courses will be offered for credit. The intent of the program is to encourage cross-cultural thinking about the roles media play in global affairs and policy, to help students and faculty appreciate distinctive international media and policy models, to consider and initiate norms regarding media’s role in promoting global awareness and understanding, and to assist universities in developing curricular tools and cross-regional case studies for media, public policy and other related courses that are otherwise unavailable or would be prohibitively expensive to generate for a single institution.
Covering the World
A major focus of ICMPA are studies of media coverage of international news. A current and on-going ICMPA project, conducted by Susan Moeller and Jad Melki, is how American, British and Arab media have covered terrorism since 9/11. This multi-year, multi-part project explores the priorities, assumptions, political debates, deadline pressures and bottom-line considerations of media. The studies investigate how terrorism has become a "pattern" of brutality to be referenced in a larger story about power and politics, about the conflict between al Qaeda and America, about the divide between the West and the Muslim world, and about the chasm between the technological rich and the infrastructure poor.
Reporting on Trauma and Violence
ICMPA, together with the Dart Center on Journalism and Trauma, is creating curricula for journalism schools that will train journalists to better report on violence. Through the creation of curricular units, web resources, and publications, ICMPA and Dart are committed to helping a new generation of reporters, editors, producers and publishers learn the skills of trauma journalism–learning to better educate readers and viewers without either ignoring the human side of a problem by reporting solely on the politics of it or exploiting the tragedy through formula and sensationalism.
The ICMPA Forum
ICMPA hosts brown-bag talks by visiting speakers: journalists, academics, media experts, trauma professionals. The forum discussions are open to all
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