A group of journalists from Sweden are wrapping up a weeklong visit to media hubs in the United States that included New York City, Boston and Washington, D.C.

The goal of the expedition is to find out how American newspapers, radio stations and online news outlets operate, and possibly apply what they learn to their endeavors back home. The trip to the United States was paid for by a foundation that supports journalism.

Erika Bjerström, who ran a public service TV station and is now a columnist for national newspapers in Sweden, organized the weeklong visit for a group of editors.

They included Butler in their itinerary to get a glimpse of how the Butler Eagle handled reporting about the July 13, 2024, attempted assassination of then-candidate President Donald Trump at a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show grounds in Connoquenessing Township before he was elected to his second term as president.

“We came here due to the Butler Eagle’s assassination coverage,” Bjerström said during a short break in one of the sessions the newspaper organized for them Tuesday. “What I see is a newspaper committed to being part of a Democratic society.”

They arrived in the United States on Saturday and spent Monday in New York City, where they met with staff from The Wall Street Journal and Reuters. After leaving Butler, they caught a flight to Boston, where NPR was among their planned stops. Next was Washington, D.C., where they were going to visit the Washington Examiner and SiriusXM before beginning the long flight home Saturday.

The journalists spent Tuesday morning at Eagle Printing Company’s production center, which houses all of the newspaper’s operations.

At the Eagle, the group met with publisher Tammy Schuey, retired managing editor Donna Sybert, interim managing editor Tracy Leturgey and reporter Steve Ferris.

The group learned about the Eagle’s coverage of the assassination attempt, how the newspaper handles daily news reporting and other aspects of the business.

Bjerström said she came away from the meeting with the Eagle with a sense that the newspaper manages to produce high-quality journalism with “not a lot of resources.”

She described the Eagle’s leadership as “innovative, which is what we need to survive.”

Lena Philipson, editor-in-chief of Skånska Dagbladet, a daily newspaper with a circulation of about 10,000, which is similar to the Eagle’s, said she will share what she learned about the Eagle’s coverage of the assassination attempt and daily news reporting with her staff.

“It’s not that much different than what we do,” Philipson said about the newspaper in central Skåne and southern Skåne in the southern part of Sweden.

She said she learned the Eagle assigned reporters and photographers to cover Trump’s rally from inside and outside of the media tent to get both perspectives, and how editors’ first priority was to make sure the staff was safe after the shooting.

After spending the morning at the Eagle, the journalists attended a roundtable discussion with the Butler County commissioners and other county officials at the government center.

Commissioners Chairwoman Leslie Osche said the commissioners have a good working relationship with the Eagle.

“We are very, very fortunate to still maintain a local newspaper, and we consider ourselves very blessed to have that, as well as a local hospital,” Osche said. “So, we’re very fortunate that we still have those things going for us, and to be able to have a relationship with local media that helps us have unbiased news.”

Commissioner Kevin Boozel expressed a similar view.

“When we were brought into political roles, a lot of folks would tell us ‘Don’t answer the phone when it’s the media’ … I can’t say I’ve ever felt that I had to do that with the Butler Eagle,” Boozel said.

The assassination attempt was a primary topic of the conversation.

Right-to-Know Law assistant Matthew Vickless explained the county received 29 requests for records from media through the state’s law on July 15, the Monday after the Saturday rally. He said that number doesn’t include the requests submitted to the district attorney’s office, which handles its own Right-to-Know requests.

For comparison purposes, Vickless said the county received 29 requests from Jan. 3 to March 1 that year, and eight from media in 2023. Typically, the requests are for records pertaining to property, contracts, purchases and elections, and 20 have been submitted so far this year, he said.

The county received 376 records requests related to the rally shooting, Vickless said. Excluding 2024, the county receives a rough average of 220 records requests a year, he said.

Bjerström said she found it interesting that county officials learned a lot about media relations from the attempted assassination.

“It was a mutual learning experience,” Bjerström said.

She said journalists in Sweden will be better prepared to cover such an event if another one were to occur there. She noted Prime Minister Olof Palme was assassinated in 1986 while walking home with his wife from a movie theater. No one has been held accountable for the killing.

Bjerström said she first came to the United States at age 16 as an exchange student and graduated from Unionville High School in Chester County.

“Today, I’ve seen the best of the U.S.,” she said.

Philipson said she was impressed by the Eagle’s coverage of the rally shooting, and the county’s efforts to respond to records requests. She said the Right-to-Know Law is more similar to a law in Sweden than she expected.

She said journalists must ask questions, but sometimes must patiently wait for answers.

“We will never stop asking questions,” she said.

The journalists also went to Vintage Coffee House on Main Street for a sit-down with Mark Gordon, county chief of planning and economic development; Butler Memorial Hospital president Matthew Schnur; Butler Mayor Bob Dandoy; Butler Area School District superintendent Brian White; and Butler County Chamber of Commerce president Jordan Grady.