Glenn Guimond (left), public affairs officer, United States Embassy, congratulates Gleaner Assistant News Editor Robert Hart who was selected to participate in the U.S.-sponsored International Visitor Leadership Program in the U.S.A. - Contributed

The United States Embassy in Kingston has announced the selection of Robert Hart, assistant news editor with the Gleaner Company to participate in the prestigious International Visitor Leadership Program on investigative journalism. The U.S. State Department, through the International Visitor Leadership Program, sends emergent leaders from all over the world to travel to the United States each year to meet and confer with their professional counterparts and to experience the country and its institutions first-hand.

Mr. Hart, a graduate of the University of the West Indies, Mona, who has been in the field of print journalism for over four years, was senior parliamentary reporter before he assumed the role of assistant news editor last year. Mr. Hart said that he was pleased "to be taking part in the programme as it will give me an opportunity to view first-hand the professional environment for journalism in the U.S. as well as share experiences with colleagues from nations such as Lebanon, Rwanda and Iraq."

Investigative journalism

The three-week multi-city programme, which begins September 28, will afford Mr. Hart and his counterparts from 21 other countries the opportunity to learn about the role of investigative journalism in a democracy including access to information, politics and media ethics. Among his many activities, Mr. Hart will visit television, radio and print media outlets in Washington D.C., and meet with editorial journalists in San Francisco, California. He is also scheduled to meet with representatives of the New York Police Department and court system to discuss the investigative coverage of crime.

Other topics to be examined during the visit include online journalism, media and politics, community television, media watchdogs, impact of technology, journalism as a business and newsrooms at major media outlets.