Reporting from US capital

The NU-Q students during their trip to Washington DC

Journalism and communication students from Northwestern University in Qatar visited Washington DC to report on the political attitudes and organisation of Arab Americans, and how that may influence the US presidential election on November 6.
Through a series of interviews with political analysts, leaders, and voters in the US capital, students explored the issues influencing the Arab American vote: dual identity, discrimination, and local and national interest groups. 
They then launched the website arabamreeka2012.org, which showcases their video and written reports. The trip was part of a field reporting course designed to impart knowledge and experience in reporting on campaigns, election results and the governing process.
NU-Q dean and CEO Everette E Dennis said that using the US presidential election to learn about politics, governance and the role of ethnic minorities, in this instance Arab-Americans, was a good way to grapple with the realities of how democratic societies work - for better and worse.
Freshman Angel Polacco said the programme helped her to develop a “nose for news,” as one of her professors put it. “The most interesting thing I learned during this trip is that there are people who are actually willing to speak on the record, moreover on controversial issues.”
Her classmate Jaimee Haddad, an Arab American of Lebanese descent, said that as a minority group, Arab Americans are key players in the US election because they are a fairly organised community, and they are active voters, yet they don’t get as much national attention.
The journalists-in-training also met with political reporters and a chief speechwriter in the White House.
“In addition to reporting, interviewing, writing and editing, I also wanted to give the students a real taste for being a campaign reporter in Washington,” said trip leader Jennifer Koons, a lecturer in the journalism programme at NU-Q.
The students had completed a course on American Politics this spring before they went on the trip.