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Journalists from throughout the United States are gathering at the USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications through next August for a series of training seminars on the AMBER Alert system that notifies the public when children are reported missing.
The training is part of a $200,000 grant to the school from the U.S. Department of Justice that began last fall. By the end of January, the program had completed nine sessions, about one-third of the total scheduled through the end of next summer.
The AMBER Alert system began in 1997 and has resulted in the recovery of 241 children. Hugh Munn, an instructor at the school and former spokesman with the S.C. Law Enforcement Division, consulted with the Justice Department on the AMBER Alert program and helped develop the training sessions.
On Jan. 16 and 18, news directors from Gannett-owned stations representing 12 states were at the journalism school's Newsplex for the training, which is designed to make the AMBER Alert system more effective.
Augie Grant, an associate professor of journalism who serves as the seminars' training coordinator and project manager, said the most gratifying part of the project was seeing how many broadcasters were willing to devote time for the training and take their new expertise home.
"Invariably, the question we get from them is, 'How can I share this with other people at my station or in my community,'" Grant said.
"The other thing that has been critical is that most of the sessions integrate broadcasters and law enforcement personnel so that they can better communicate with each other and have a better understanding of each others' problems.
"The goal is to improve communication during alerts. The differences in cultures we found in law enforcement and the broadcasting community can impede communication. Time is the most important element. The more quickly the public can be mobilized to help find an abducted child the more likely a child will be safely recovered."
In addition to Grant and Munn, the USC AMBER Alert project team includes Charles Bierbauer, dean of the College of Mass Communications and Information Studies, and journalism and mass communications faculty members.
USC is one of the few providers in the nation of AMBER alert simulation training for broadcasters and law enforcement officials.
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Hugh Munn, an instructor with the School of Journalism and Mass Communications, addresses news directors from Gannett-owned stations in 12 states during the Jan. 18 session of the school's AMBER Alert training.
