Although one delegation of African journalists was rejected by the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, another group will be welcomed at the University of Georgia.
But none of the 14 journalists headed to Georgia this week under the Edward R. Murrow Program come from countries where Ebola is widespread.
According to the website of the university’s journalism school, the African visitors will spend a day in Atlanta with editors at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and CNN. Then they will spend Nov. 3-4 on the university campus, mingling with journalism faculty and students and watching Election Day coverage.
“This is a unique opportunity for our students, for our faculty, for faculty elsewhere in the university, and for media professionals in the state to get to talk to such a diverse group of visitors about the challenges of journalism in the countries represented,” Lee B. Becker, director of the Cox Center for International Mass Communication Training and Research, said in a statement.
One problem: At least one of the journalists is from Mali. The World Health Organization warned Friday that a 2-year-old who died there Friday put many people at high risk because the toddler was bleeding from her nose as she traveled from Guinea to Mali on a bus.
According to the Associated Press, WHO said it was treating the case – the first in Mali – as an emergency since the girl and her grandmother went through several towns in Mali, including a stopover in the capital of Bamako.
Earlier this month, the University of Georgia drew sharp criticism for rescinding an Oct. 23 speaking invitation to a Liberian editor.
