Soon, TV viewers across Hungary will have the opportunity to learn about McDaniel College’s Budapest program. Two Hungarian journalists producing a story about studying in America visited campus to interview Hungarian student Marton Miko.

“I’m not used to having a big camera in the middle of my face, but at least it’s nice to be speaking Hungarian in an interview,” Miko said.

Each year, about 300 international reporters submit story ideas to the State Department. Most of the 60 that are selected deal with issues like public health or civil society.

“It’s a function of public diplomacy and is meant to improve relations with the U.S.,” said State Department Producer Cecilia Calahan.

The grant won by Dr. Pal Sipos and Atila Killian pays for two weeks of domestic travel in exchange for a guarantee that their finished documentary will run during prime time in their home country. Although the final format of the program has not been determined, the Hungarian journalists are considering making McDaniel College’s Budapest Program the second in a three-part series. In addition, they expect it to be shown beyond Hungary’s borders.

“They want to distribute it among European and Asian countries,” Sipos said. “It will show the international community the ways and means of studying as an international student in the United States.”

Over the course of two days, the journalists filmed a Green Terror football game, sat in on Miko’s class “Approaches to International Relations” with Associate Professor of Political Science Volker Franke, spoke with President Joan Coley about McDaniel College Budapest, and interviewed English Professor Kathy Mangan, who recently returned from the European campus.

The Hungarian journalists also interviewed students and professors at Stanford, Georgetown, and the University of Maryland Baltimore County. The documentary is expected to air in December.