Lane Luckie, a news anchor, producer, and reporter at KLTV in Tyler, Texas has been selected to join a group of 14 producers, reporters, editors, and online journalists from across the country to become Fellows the middle of September during the height of the German election campaign.

It will be the largest group of American broadcast journalists dispatched to Europe in many years as part of the longstanding RTDNF/RIAS partnership, a reflection of the high interest in the German election and program restructuring.

“This will be an unmatched opportunity to learn about the evolving relationship between the U.S. and Europe,” Luckie said. “I’m so fortunate that KLTV is supporting and encouraging my participation in the RIAS exchange, which will certainly help me grow professionally and personally.”

This is the 24th year of the partnership between the RTDNF and RIAS, which has sent more than 700 Fellows to Germany. The fall 2017 German/American Journalist Exchange Program will run from September 17 – 30 and include stops in Brussels, Berlin, Cologne, Wittenberg and Hamburg.

Sponsored by the RIAS Berlin Commission, it will feature briefings with top-level German political and media players, meetings with international journalists and with officials at the European Union headquarters and NATO headquarters.

“It’s going to be an exciting time to be in Germany in the week before the election and in the week right after it,” said RIAS Berlin Commission executive director Erik Kirschbaum. “There’s a lot at stake for Germany and Europe, as well as the United States. Many of the fellows selected are planning to do reporting before, during and after the election during the fellowship – which is something we encourage and try to support as much as possible.”

The journalists selected for this program are:

• Stephanie Carr, producer, 41 Action News, Kansas City, Missouri
• Iris Carreras, associate producer, CBS News, New York
• Viviana Hurtado, anchor/reporter, WTOL, Toledo, Ohio
• Allegra Johnson, reporter/producer, Sheridan Broadcasting Networks, Pittsburgh
• Elizabeth Johnson, senior digital editor, CNN, Atlanta
• Lane Luckie, anchor/reporter,  KLTV, Tyler, Texas
• Heather Maxwell, producer, VOA, Washington DC
• Scott Saloway, headline writer, MSNBC, New York
• Alex Stambaugh, content producer, CNN, Atlanta
• Simon Thompson, reporter, KRWG, Las Cruces, New Mexico
• Clare Toeniskoetter, reporter, Marketplace, New York
• Benjamin Warwick, assignment editor, KCNC, Denver,
• Stephanie Wolf, reporter/producer, Colorado Public Radio, Westminster, Colorado
• Edgar Zuniga, producer, Telemundo News, New York

“There could not be a more important time for our Fellows to be traveling to and reporting from Germany and Europe,” said Mike Cavender, RTDNF Executive Director. “The change in approach by President Trump toward our Allies in the EU has created an uncertainty around the world which requires American journalists to be more knowledgeable than ever. The RIAS program provides them vital tools to aid in that understanding.”

Since 1994 the RTDNF has administered this media fellowship as part of its German/American Journalist Exchange Program with the RIAS Berlin Commission. The RTDNF is a 501(c)(3) educational institution that promotes excellence in electronic journalism through research, education and training for news professionals and journalism students. Affiliated with the Radio Television Digital News Association, RTDNF’s programs are supported entirely by charitable contributions from individuals, corporations, foundations, RTDNA members and other individuals.

The RIAS Berlin Commission is a bi-national organization established in 1992 to promote understanding between the United States and Germany in the field of broadcasting. Each exchange program is fully financed by the RIAS Berlin Commission, a non-profit, non-governmental organization. Over 1,400 American and German journalists have participated in this unique trans-Atlantic exchange which continues to build bridges of understanding, professionally as well as personally. American alumni continue to participate in the program by hosting visiting German journalists in their news rooms each spring and fall, and by attending the RIAS Fellows Reunion held at the annual Excellence in Journalism Convention each fall.

Read more from RTDNA: https://rtdna.org/article/fellows_selected_for_rtdnf_german_american_exchange_fall_2017