GCIV hosted Ms. Maryia Sadouskaya of Belarus in Atlanta December 19-22, 2007. Ms. Sadouskaya is Manager of Radio Belarus, an independent radio station based in Poland. She came to Atlanta to meet with counterparts in the U.S. broadcast media field to discuss journalism ethics, new media technologies, and citizen journalism. Ms. Sadouskaya also took the time to speak with GCIV members about her work back home and to give them an overview of the situation in Belarus.

Before coming to Atlanta, Ms. Sadouskaya spent time in Washington, DC, Buffalo, New York City, Austin, and Portland. She had the opportunity to meet with a variety of media professionals all over the country. Atlanta was her last stop before returning home to Belarus. Ms. Sadouskaya began her professional program on Thursday by going to the offices of Q100/99X Radio. She met with the operations manager and discussed the workings of a commercial radio station. Her station back home is trying to incorporate some of these ideas to secure their financial stability. After learning about the station's inner-workings and touring the facilities, she headed to the GCIV offices for a Global Lunch Forum. Here she told GCIV members about her work at Radio Belarus and gave an overview of the political, economic, and social climates in Belarus. After the engaging dialogue, she drove to Athens, GA, to see the campus of the University of Georgia. Here she met with the leaders of the James M. Cox Center for Mass Comm. Training & Research, who detailed the school's journalism education and research programs.

The following day, Ms. Sadouskaya began her professional appointments by going to the CNN headquarters. Here she had a behind the scenes tour and had the opportunity to meet with journalists and executives to discuss CNN's outreach in Eastern Europe. She also had the opportunity to visit the CNN Radio operations and meet with their staff. After finishing at CNN, Ms. Sadouskaya had the chance to see the offices of WRFG Community Radio. She met several administrators and program managers to learn about the challenges and benefits of the community radio model, and was able to share her experiences from Radio Belarus. At the end of her second day of professional appointments, Ms. Sadouskaya went to the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site. Here she learned about the legacy of Dr. King and Atlanta's importance in the civil rights movement.

GCIV was honored to have this distinguished visitor come to Georgia and meet with our many valuable professional resources. We were elated to have the opportunity to learn more about Belarus and her experiences in journalism in Eastern Europe. Her experiences here in Atlanta gave her a first-hand view of the media in the U.S. We eagerly anticipate hearing about the progress of linkages made in Atlanta.