IJF has:

• introduced practical journalism training and effective business practices
• trained more than 500 media professionals and students a month in hands-on, practical journalism
• assisted universities in developing journalism curricula that reflect actual practices, not just theory
• started systematic training in fact-based reporting and research essential to raising the standards of journalism
• taught Eastern Europe's first courses for journalists on how to use the Internet for newsgathering
• taught university economics graduates to become business journalists
• helped struggling media enterprises, by bringing in experts on modern business skills and practices conducted
• minority journalism training and Roma internship programs (see new programs) to increase the sensitivity for the region's ethnic diversity

Employs highly qualified trainers and first-rate resources

IJF:

• created strategically located Centers that rank among the best training facilities in the region
• was the first organization in Eastern Europe to host a Knight International Journalism Fellow and has hosted dozens in Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia
• opened the first Freedom Forum news library in the world, in Prague, and currently maintains libraries in Bucharest, Budapest and Cambodia
• constantly updates Centers' technology - from computer systems to sophisticated digital broadcast equipment - to ensure that students are familiar with the latest tools in journalism

Form beneficial strategic alliances with media concerns

IJF:

• recruited CNN, PBS, and BBC professionals to train the news and public affairs staff that launched NOVA, The Czech Republic's first privately owned television station.
• teamed with BBC to teach radio and television news at our four Centers
• in cooperation with Promedia, a program that fosters the development of print and broadcast media in Central and Eastern Europe, has provided extensive targeted assistance in Romania and Hungary

Nurture an environment conducive to producing good journalism

The Centers:

• support the community of journalists by opening their facilities to members of local media as well as from other parts of Eastern and Central Europe and the former Soviet Union
• formed Debate Clubs-the first of their kind in Eastern Europe-that regularly assembles expert commentators at our Centers to argue major issues. (Since they are often reported by the press and broadcast media, the debates often reach far wider audiences.)
• launched KMIT, the first journalism review in Prague.

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