VERY VIENNA, presented to American students by their Viennese colleagues, was produced in a course at the University of Vienna, Austria. The purpose of this project is to create a forum for dialogue and cultural exchange in order to free journalism on cultural issues and cultural communication from stereotpes which are convenient and quickly sold, but are nonetheless merely self-satisfactory and interchangeable decals. The overall goal of this course is to make the dialogue between cultures resistant; to make the richness visible that lies within cultural contradictions and idiosyncrasies. It is only in the (perceptible ) contradiction of cultures that a dialogue of worldviews originates. This contradiction - which is likely to emerge - only injures if one tends toward producing one's own self-esteem from another person's judgment.   However, the contradiction is not a catastrophe but is the path leading to an awareness of the plurality of this world's ways of expression, and the possibility of learning from each other. If the difference of cultures can be intertwined while keeping in mind the distribution of economic chances of survival, then we could succeed in developing global conditions for cultural plurality. As long as this is not the case, the temptation to practice cultural prostitution is too big.   Cultural journalism is more than the mere description of one's own or a foreign culture. Cultural journalism should become aware of its purpose to facilitate and initiate dialogue and cultural mediation, and unfold its capacity for being a connector between cultures.   This is undoubtedly a much more difficult mission than the mere selling of stories which offers the audience relief via well-known clichés. Cultural communication is political communication, even if it is - and of course it is allowed to be - entertaining. There are so many stereotypes about Vienna, Austria's capital, but it is a really outstanding city. This opinion is not based on the city's immaculate picture-postcard-scenery or its spotless appearance. It is a city worth living in due to the psychic excitements between history and the present time. Moreover, Austrians are neither out of touch with contemporary events nor out of touch with history.   Sometimes my feeling is that people living in the "new world", look with special admiration and mystifying gaze to the history of old Europe, simplifying, blurring and especially trivializing cultural life. Austria's and Vienna's history is not only reflected by the surviving beautiful architecture, but is also mirrored in the mentality of the people living there. History can be read from the faces of the common people and not just from the exteriors of imperial buildings.   It is important for us to convey honestly and accurately the meaning of our own culture when encountering people from other cultures since our own identity is part of how others perceive us. At a certain point, it is not enough to consider that Americans or other visitors are in love with a cute, literally fabulous, sleepy nest of imperially dressed up puppets in order to build an urban or national identity for a political, economic, and cultural present that allows us to stand up straight. At a certain point, the Mozartkugeln, the Lippizanners, and the ski-idols that invigorate tourism will show themselves for what they are: constructs of a market that are only viable as long as there are consumers for them.   However, it might well be true that people in Vienna and Austria are likely to think in a slower, more deliberative, prudent way which pays more careful consideration to that which has come before. History is alive in Austria, especially in Vienna. In this sense, Vienna is a historical terrarium. The tendency to wall this city in, isolate, and mold it into a theme park transforms Vienna into a museum where visitors can admire what they would never surround themselves with in their own daily lives.   VERY VIENNA is an attempt to show Vienna's daily face to you who have probably only known Vienna's museums and holiday-sides and sights. VERY VIENNA tries to give you an impression of what Vienna really looks like, sounds like, tastes like, and lives like. Enjoy our articles and please take notice of the invitation to respond and share your opinion and experiences with us. Take a look at our webpage.   Prof. Dr. Thomas A. Bauer Project Head Department of Communication and Media Studies University of Vienna
	It was that week in November when Americans celebrate Thanksgiving Day. It was 1998, and as I left my home in Joplin, Missouri, and met my three traveling colleagues at the airport in Tulsa, Oklahoma, there were news reports and U.S. State Department warnings about possible terrorist attacks against Americans in Vienna during the next 48 hours. We were due in Vienna the next morning, a Sunday, and on Monday we had appointments to keep.We arrived on a very cold day in Vienna, and on our way to our hotel we did pass streets that had been blocked off because of alleged terrorist threats against the American Embassy, against American businesses, and against some hotels with large contingencies of American visitors.Our taxi driver told us, however, that we were safe. At our hotel we received the same reassurances that we were safe and we need not worry. The bitter cold of the weather, thus, was overcome by the warmth of Austrians, and despite the light snow which fell that Sunday evening and coated the ground that next morning, the four of us were entranced and captivated by the beauty of Vienna and by the hospitality of its people.On Monday morning we met with Professor Thomas Bauer of the University of Vienna, and from students in the building who guided us to his office, to secretaries who assisted and gave us warming beverages, to the professor himself, there was something very special about this day. It was the day we sat, drank wonderful coffee, enjoyed sparkling conversation, and discussed a cooperative program between our college, Missouri Southern State College, and the University of Vienna. The results of that cooperation were to include the issue of International Crossroads which you now hold in your hands; an international conference on our home campus on multicultural journalism; and the opportunities for students from the University of Vienna to experience short internships on American community newspaper and in other media.It was a good meeting, followed that week by other successful meetings throughout France and Germany, working toward a spirit of cooperation among student journalists. This edition, then, of International Crossroads is much more than a collection of pictures and stories about Vienna and the Austrian people. It is an example of the kind of cooperation that needs to exist between student journalists all over the world. After all, student journalists all seek the same goals: To be purveyors of truth, defenders of freedom, and promoters of peace. We at Missouri Southern State College have taken various steps in establishing as our college-wide mission of education an emphasis on internationalism in all his aspects. We sponsor many programs of travel and study abroad for our own students, for example, and we have developed an Initiative for Peace which seeks to use this publication and our college newspaper The Chart as occasional vehicles by which we can tell the stories of the ravages of war and the desires for peace and demonstrate examples of cooperative ventures. Too, we hope very much to establish a World Press Center for journalism students from every nation, where they can come to discuss their mutual problems and concerns and find new avenues for expressing their own dreams and aspirations for journalism around the world.We have participated in conferences in various countries, including the Student Voice in Croatia, and we have heard the requests for more information about the role of the media in today's society and tomorrow's world. This publication of International Crossroads, therefore, is but a step - an example - in that direction.We at Missouri Southern State College are appreciative of the work, the efforts, the talents, and the dedication shown by Professor Bauer's students in putting out this edition. We are proud of our association with these individuals and with the University of Vienna and we seek such associations and relationships with other universities and other groups of students.We welcome the comments of our readers and their contributions to future editions of this magazine, and we welcome and seek their support in the establishment of the World Press Center. You may contact me at: Stebbins-c@mail.mssc.edu To our readers who have not been to Vienna: Take this edition and savor the magnificence and variety of this city and plan a visit there someday soon. Then visit the rest of Austria. You will have an unforgettable experience. And for now, I wish you a rewarding reading experience. Chad D. Stebbins, Director Institute of International Studies Missouri Southern State College Joplin, MO top