Editor’s Note: On Thursday, February 9, RTDNA’s Dan Shelley (pictured right) and Ryan Murphy traveled to the United Nations in New York City, where they met with 19 visiting Middle Eastern and North African journalists as part of the U.S. State Department’s foreign press project. The goal of the project, among other things, is to highlight the significance of a free and independent press to the democratic process and enhance foreign journalists’ understanding of the U.S. foreign policy decision-making process.

This is the second time RTDNA has been invited speak with visiting journalists as part of the State Department’s program. Following the 1-hour Q&A session, RTDNA.org caught up with Shelley and Murphy for their thoughts on the day.

Murphy: “This was, again, a very enlightening experience and offered us at least a dozen new perspectives on how the U.S. media is perceived. The last time we spoke to visiting journalists, in July of 2011, we had a pretty vociferous group and I spent a fair amount of time answering questions about objectivity and explaining that one of RTDNA’s roles is equipping newsrooms with guidelines and resources to report fairly and accurately.”

“This time around, the focus was much more ‘digital.’ The first few questions Dan and I fielded were about the roles of Twitter and Facebook in reporting during breaking news situations. We referenced the RTDNA social media guidelines and told them how digital platforms and reporting best practices are constantly evolving.”

“Dan’s note that journalists should now be considered ‘multi-platform content producers’ was well-received by the group and led to several questions about the evolution of news in the United States, specifically, how organizations are adapting in this constantly-changing digital environment. It was very interesting to see how the digital shift we’ve been focusing on in U.S. newsrooms for the last 10 years or so is now taking place, to a certain degree, on a very universal, global level.”

Shelley: “We talked a lot about social media, citizen journalism, journalism ethics and many of the other issues that we are grappling with in the U.S., as well as the Edward R. Murrow Awards, when a radio reporter from Egypt, seated in the back of the room and remaining quiet until this point, raised his hand.”

“‘Do you trust journalism from Arabs?’ he asked.”

"‘Yes. Absolutely,’ I immediately replied. But the question made me think, and lingered long afterward. How interesting, I thought, that a journalist from Egypt - a long-time ally of the U.S. and a nation recently freed from the grips of tyrannical rule - would think that electronic journalists in this country might question the veracity of the journalists in theirs.”

“It made me appreciate even more the First Amendment freedoms we enjoy - and too often take for granted in our country - and the efforts to which RTDNA goes to fight for them.”

“The Egyptian's question made perfect sense. When you are subjected to oppression and government interference you become accustomed to it, and you begin to worry about how others perceive your work.”

“It also reacquainted me with something of which I'm reminded virtually every time I speak to a group of foreign journalists: We take for granted our freedoms and the RTDNA's efforts to help ensure they remain intact.”