GPB’s Rickey Bevington talks about press freedom and public debate in Europe

On September 10, Rickey Bevington, a Senior Anchor/Correspondent with Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) Radio and formerly news director for GPB TV, Radio and Digital spoke to faculty, graduate and undergraduate students from the Nunn School and the School of Literature, Media and Communication, as well as representatives from the NGO and business communities. Ms. Bevington spoke about her experience as a German Marshall Fund Marshall Memorial Fellow in Europe in the spring. On her fellowship she visited Belgium, Germany, Montenegro, Poland, and Sweden. She was struck by the vibrancy and variety of public debate in western Europe from taxi and rail strikes in Brussels and Berlin, to graffiti in Athens to neo-Nazi demonstrations in Stockholm. She was also struck by the “blatant, pro-Russia propaganda” of Russia Today, which is widely available in western Europe, which Ms. Bevington, stressed is very much to those governments’ credit. The dark spot for press freedom on her trip was Montenegro, where the government punishes firms that advertise with the country’s one opposition news outlet. Ms. Beviginton urged students to travel in order to gain insight into where they are from. The talk was hosted by Georgia Tech’s Jean Monnet Center of Excellence and INTA Hour.