Global Ties Alabama

Journalists from Sweden, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Spain, Slovenia, and Serbia visited the Alabama Public Radio newsroom on Friday. The delegation was part of a U.S. State Department initiative known as the International Visitor Leadership Program.

Back in February, the US State Department asked me to speak to a foreign delegation about APR’s coverage of human trafficking. One member of that group was an investigative reporter from Ukraine. When I was done, we were all smiling and taking pictures and shaking hands, and this journalist came up and pressed a book into my hands. It was poetry written by Ukrainians about the war with Russia. The stories of pain and loss hammered home for me the fact that I don't know firsthand what it's like in Ukraine, but one part time resident of Huntsville, does.

The on again, off again cease fire and peace talks between Russia and Ukraine appear to be off again. This subject hits home for one, part time, resident of Huntsville. I say part time because Yaryna Zhurba’s family is still living in the city of Zolochiv in Ukraine, near the border with Poland. She visited there as recently as April. Zhurba is working to rebuild her nation. One jigsaw puzzle at a time. We'll explain that one in a minute, but first we discuss the difficulty in making Americans really understand what the Ukrainian people are going through…

Back in February, the US State Department asked me to speak to a foreign delegation. It was about APR’s coverage of human trafficking. One member of that group was an investigative reporter from Ukraine. When I was done, we were all smiling and taking pictures and shaking hands, and this journalist came up and pressed a book into my hands. It was poetry written by Ukrainians about the war with Russia. The stories of pain and loss hammered home for me the fact that I don't know firsthand what it's like in Ukraine, but one part time resident of Huntsville, does.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has thanked the American people and leadership and voiced hope for "strong relations," a day after an astonishing Oval Office blowout with U.S. President Donald Trump that left many uncertain where the once staunch allies stood. APR contacted a fellow journalist in Ukraine for her perspective.

Based on Donald Trump's first term and his campaign statements, the United States will become less predictable, more chaotic, colder to allies and warmer to some strongmen, and much more transactional in picking friends globally than before. European country where all this seems okay is Serbia. That’s according to Tamara Bajcic. She’s CEO of the fact checking, anti-disinformation, think tank in Belgrade called DEMOSTAT. APR first met Bajcic at the invitation of the U.S. State Department.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness month in Alabama. The issue is also a concern internationally. The U.S. State Department invited APR to discuss its human rights coverage with Erika Leonaite. She’s the human rights ombudsperson with the Parliament of Lithuania.

This story isn’t part of Alabama Public Radio’s investigative series on the newly redrawn Congressional seat in District 2—But it could provide an interesting perspective—from the view from the former Soviet nation of Belarus.

The U.S. State Department, and the citizens’ diplomacy group Global Ties Alabama in Huntsville, recognized Alabama Public Radio for a series of talks delivered to foreign delegations on subjects ranging from APR’s 14-month investigation into human trafficking to its efforts to educate about news disinformation.

The Alabama Public Radio newsroom addressed a delegation of expatriate journalists from the former Soviet nation of Belarus. The topic was APR’s national award-winning investigative journalism and how that type of reporting works in the United States.