RIAS Berlin Commission program resumes with USA visit
The RIAS Berlin Commission exchange programs resumed in October with the first standard three-week program in nearly two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Nine journalists from Germany took part in an eventful program with one week in Washington DC, one week in New York and one week at a variety of small stations across the United States — in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in Salt Lake City, in Odessa, Texas, in Dallas, Texas and in San Antonio, Texas. It was the first standard program in nearly two years after the corona pandemic and the fellows were welcomed as the first group of visitors at many of their stops.
The meetings in Washington included talks with German ambassador Emily Harris, expert analysts on religion and global polling data the Pew Research Institute, Peter Rough at the Hudson Institute, conservative TV journalist James Rosen, Deutsche Welle journalists Ines Pohl and Oliver Sallet, ZDF producer Annette Brieger, Der Spiegel Washington bureau chief Roland Nelles, former Congressman Charlie Dent (R-Penn), White House correspondent Jeff Mason, WUSA9 anchor Larry Miller, ARD staff Verena Bünten and Claudia Bruckenmaier, Telemundo correspondent Lori Montenegro, NPR journalists Kevin Beesley and Scott Neuman, WeltTV correspondent Steffen Schwarzkopf and Brookings Institute senior fellow and Fritz Stern chair Constanze Stelzenmüller. The group also had a get-together with a dozen Washington DC-area alumni.
In New York, the fellows from Germany met WNBC anchor Michael Gargiulo, NBC news producer Adam Reiss, WNBC producer Tiffany Zeno, New York Amsterdam News Elinor Tatum, Bob Jamieson and the St. James church soup kitchen, New York Times The Daily senior producer Clare Toeniskoetter, Broadway actor Michael Fatica, German filmmaker Michael Schmidt, 9/11 Tribute Center and survivor Gordon Huie, CBS Sunday Morning producer Dustin Stephens, Bloomberg broadcasting news editor Michael Lysak, Fox news producer Tyler Speicher, as well as a special alumni meeting at “1014” on Fifth Avenue with New York-area RIAS Berlin Commission alumni. A group of participants also visited the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn to learn more about the Hasidic Jewish community and also went to Newark, New Jersey to watch a campaign rally with former President Barack Obama on the behalf of New Jersey governor Phil Murphy
The participants included: Annette Yang (NDR), Jan Fritsche (ZDF), Dilek Üsük (RBB/ZDF/WDR), Lena Mosel (WeltTV), Julia Grünewald (MDR), Kate Brady (Deutsche Welle), Kristian Wiegand (Phoenix), Dania Maria Hohn (RTL), Frauke Holzmeier (RTL/NTV).
