Palestinian Journalists Tour - America Beyond the Headlines

October 27 - November 11, 2007, Washington, D.C., Virginia, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Illinois
Contact: Washington Media Relations Officer Algis Silas
Telephone: 202-504-6317; Email: silasa@state.gov

Five Palestinian journalists gained a better understanding of American society by delving into a variety of issues such as: high school youth exchange study programs with the Middle East; expanded access to government records, meetings and proceedings on a state and local level; economic development in Pennsylvania and West Virginia; volunteerism; the transformation of Pittsburgh's economy and environment; and the city marketing strategies of Pittsburgh and Chicago toward national and international businesses, during a 16-day FPC working reporting tour.

The tour brought the journalists to Washington, D.C., Springfield and Charlottesville, Va., Gettysburg, Harrisburg, and Pittsburgh, Pa., Wheeling, W.V., Chicago and Orland Park, Ill.  They participated in briefings and interviews with private sector representatives and experts of state and local organizations, who addressed such diverse topics as the history of the U.S. Capitol and Thomas Jefferson's Monticello; the Department of State's Youth Exchange Study program in Springfield, Va., the Freedom of Information Act in Virginia; the economic competitiveness and development of West Virginia; Habitat for Humanity and volunteerism; the economic environment of Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh and Chicago; and the perspective of Chicago's Arab American journalists' about the post September 11, 2001 environment.