On November 24, a CNN International team converged on AUB to do a live broadcast on the University as one of the leading educational institutions in the region. Filming the verdant campus and talking to students, the TV coverage was aired the same day as a segment of the CNN USA and CNN International presentation, “Eye on the Middle East,” devoted to informing the world about the aspirations and hopes of young people in the Middle East. “Eye on the Middle East,” consisting of a week of special programming that ran from November 21 to 27, featured informative reports from Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Jordan, and Morocco, on “the catalysts for change” in the region. The show was produced to celebrate CNN’s 25th anniversary. International correspondent Jim Clancy anchored the show from AUB, while coanchor Hala Gorani broadcast live from Jordan University in Amman. “With a large part of the Arab population being under 25 years of age, we feel that talking to students, who are the voices of the next generation, is a very, very important subject…we want all countries to hear what their expectations and hopes are and how they would like to contribute to the future,” said Debra Kocher, vice president of CNN International and the executive producer of the show and other CNN Connects programs. “Broadcasting live from the beautiful AUB campus…,” began Jim Clancy, before going into an introductory review of current affairs in Lebanon and other Middle Eastern countries. Then, halfway through the show, he interviewed two AUB students—Rana Khoury, a senior in political studies, and Mahdi Kassir, a senior in electrical engineering, who answered Clancy’s questions on politics and Hizbullah, while sitting on the Main Gate steps. CNN’s producers in Atlanta were so impressed by their replies that they asked Clancy to interview another student live for the program. Joumana Nasr, an economics senior, was randomly chosen—and she also answered Clancy’s questions intelligently and with eloquence. AUB students and professors had already participated as live studio audience members in a special issue of CNN Connects, which addressed young people’s attitudes towards democracy in the Middle East. That segment aired on Tuesday, November 22, at 8 pm Lebanon time.
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