Staff members of ZDF Television will attend workshops, tour Ball State's public broadcasting outlets and visit with professional broadcast personnel at television and radio stations in Indianapolis June 24-29.

"They are very interested in getting the views of American journalists, including the types of stories covered, how to shoot a good video, how to tell a story, and how those decisions are made both locally and nationally," said Joe Misciewicz, a telecommunications professor coordinating the visit.

Ball State telecommunications professors leading the workshops include Steve Bell, Phil Bremen and Tim Pollard. Other seminars will be directed by Marilyn Weaver and Bob Pritchard, journalism; Gene Frankland and Ray Scheele, political science; Tony Edmonds, history; and Tim Underhill, coordinator for electronic media for University Relations.

The German group's visit is an outgrowth of a global communications partnership established in 2001 between Ball State, the University of Memphis, the University of Mainz, Wiesbaden University of Applied Sciences, ZDF Television and the U.S. Consulate in Frankfurt.

German broadcast company employees will alternate workshops hosted by Ball State and Memphis under the agreement. One student from Wiesbaden University is attending Ball State this summer with several classmates scheduled to arrive in the coming weeks.

(NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information, contact Misciewicz at jmisciewicz@bsu.edu or (765) 285-2466.)