Last week, WTAMU welcomed an unusual sort of exchange “student.”
Her name is Jule Eikmann, and she was one of 12 German journalists chosen for an international exchange to the United States. Jule (pronounced “Julie”) was the only RIAS Fellow to visit the Texas panhandle, and she confirmed the area’s reputation for friendliness almost immediately.
“In Germany, there is a saying: ‘once you warm up their heart, you are friends for life.’ Here, you’re on the street for three minutes and people are asking ‘Where are you from?’, ‘What are you doing here?’”
Radio in the American Sector, or RIAS, was formed in Berlin after World War II to provide news and democratic messages via radio. During the Cold War, both Berlin and Germany were physically divided along ideological and political lines: the West was democratic and supported by the U.S., the U.K. and France; the East was communist and controlled by the Soviet Union.
After the cold war ended and Germany reunified, RIAS established itself an exchange program between American and German journalists.
German fellows spend three weeks in the United States. The first is in Washington D.C., the second is at various locations in the U.S. and the third is in New York City. During her time here, Jule visited local media outlets including television stations ProNews 7 and KAMR NBC 4, radio station KGNC-AM, and several WT communication classes.
She is a freelance radio journalist for Deutschlandradio. It is the largest public broadcaster in Germany, operating four networks across the nation. She also reports for Breitband and works on a variety of programs including a children’s show though the week and a digital culture show on Saturdays. She also produces stories on books and German culture.
According to Jule, German news is very different from what Americans are used to.
“It’s not good or bad, but it’s so fast — these commercials are crushing in and they’re even faster!” she said of American television fare. German news, she said, “will put you to sleep. It’s a little difficult to spice up dry, boring news.”
Dr. Butler Cain, assistant professor of communications at WT, became a RIAS fellow in 2007 and invited the program to send someone to the Canyon/Amarillo area this spring.
