Cronkite journalism graduate headed to Dubai

Evan Wyloge knows that his education doesn’t end when he graduates from ASU next week.

Just 10 days after Wyloge collects his master’s of mass communication degree in journalism from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, he will head to Dubai to study how urban design and labor issues intersect rapid growth, on behalf of the Herberger Institute School of Design Innovation.

“I was presented with an opportunity through the Herberger Institute to practice my journalism skills,” Wyloge says. “What better place than Dubai, which has so many currents of different global issues.”

Dubai, a city-state and one of the seven emirates that comprise the United Arab Emirates, is situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula on the Persian Gulf. As the most populous and second-largest emirate, Dubai has become world famous through innovative real-estate projects, sporting events, conferences, as a business and tourism hub, and as the playground for the rich and famous worldwide.

However, Dubai’s rapid development drive has recently come to a grinding halt. The state conglomerate has asked for a delay in repaying some of the $60 billion U.S. dollars it owes to creditors. Dubai has also racked up an extraordinary human cost, says Wyloge.

“The construction of Dubai was done on the backs of immigrant workers, which is how it was able to expand rapidly,” he says. “It’s appears as if this might not be a sustainable economic model for vibrant cities of the future to emulate.”

Wyloge says in addition to economics, he’ll be exploring issues regarding Dubai’s class system, labor camps, wages and human rights violations. His findings will be part of an overall multimedia site dedicated to the Dubai trip.

“Evan is a creative thinker and a tenacious reporter,” says Jason Manning, director of Student Media and managing editor of ASU’s News21 program (asu.news21.com). “During the News21 project this summer, he was a bottomless font of ideas and energy. He has great passion for the subjects he covers as a journalist and the vision to push reporting projects beyond traditional bounds. He is the type of journalist that our industry desperately needs in the game.”

Media contact:
Marshall Terrill
(602) 496-1005
marshall.terrill@asu.edu