Designing and Implementing the First Environmental and Science Journalism Course for an Uzbekistan Journalism School

摘要

Uzbekistan faces severe ecological problems including the rapidly shrinking Aral Sea, desertification, residues of biochemical weapons, and environmentally related respiratory disease. Even so, the country's print and broadcast media do little in-depth or analytical reporting on environmental issues, nor are journalists trained to cover such topics. In Spring 2002, a U.S. Fulbright lecturer at the Uzbek State World Languages University and his Uzbek colleague developed the first envirojournalism course at any university in Uzbekistan. The pilot course faced administrative and operational obstacles. It was also hindered by students' inadequate scientific backgrounds and their limited access to information and resources.