Seven Journalists Awarded Pew Fellowships in International Journalism
Seven U.S. journalists have been awarded four-month fellowships to focus on international affairs in the inaugural program of the Pew Fellowships in International Journalism at The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of The Johns Hopkins University.
The Pew Fellowships in International Journalism, funded by a $2.9 million grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts, were created this year to provide early-career U.S. journalists with an opportunity to study international affairs and to do in-depth reporting overseas. Seven Fellows are chosen for a fall session and seven more selected for each spring.
"We're educating a new generation of journalists about global issues in the post-Cold War era and giving them opportunities to pursue their interests in international events," said John Schidlovsky, director of the Pew Fellowships and a veteran foreign correspondent.
The Pew Fellows and the countries on which they will focus are:
Todd Bensman, reporter, Dallas Morning News -- Namibia
David Case, freelance reporter, San Francisco -- Iran
Kristan Hutchison, reporter, Juneau Empire -- Chile
Betsy Hiel, reporter, Toledo Blade -- Israel/West Bank
Rena Singer, reporter, Philadelphia Inquirer -- China
Stacy Sullivan, freelance reporter, New York -- Bosnia
Tricia Uhlir, anchor/reporter, KXLF-TV, Montana - Kenya
The first seven Pew Fellows will arrive at SAIS 09/1 to begin a two-month program of studies, including special daily seminars on international topics. Each Fellow will then spend five weeks overseas, reporting on a specific news story outlined by the journalists. Projects chosen by the first group of Pew Fellows focus on issues such as the environment, peacekeeping and reconciliation, population and refugees, labor and trade and economic globalization. The Pew Fellows return to SAIS for two weeks of discussion, conferences and preparing their news reports, which in most cases they will offer to their own news organizations.
"We're delighted to help launch this much-needed program at a time when an understanding by the American public of global events is more important than ever," said SAIS Dean Paul Wolfowitz. In addition to attending special seminars, Pew Fellows will be allowed to attend regular SAIS classes on international relations.
The Pew Fellows were selected by a panel of distinguished journalists and scholars that included: Seymour Topping, administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes; Loren Jenkins, senior editor of National Public Radio; Simon Li, foreign editor of the Los Angeles Times; Deborah Potter, associate with the Poynter Institute; David Zucchino, assistant to the editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer; Robert DeVecchi, adjunct senior fellow with the Council of Foreign Relations; Patricia King, professor of law at Georgetown Law Center and Nadya Shmavonian, independent consultant and former executive vice president of the Pew Charitable Trusts.
The average age of the Fellows is 31. "We want to whet the appetites of younger U.S. journalists for international news and increase both the quality and quantity of international reporting," Schidlovsky said.
The deadline for applications for the spring 1999 program is 10/15/1998.
SAIS is one of the country's leading graduate schools devoted to the study of international relations. Located in the heart of downtown Washington, near think tanks, embassies and government offices, the school enrolls more than 450 full-time graduate students and mid-career professionals and has trained more than 9,000 alumni in all aspects of international affairs. Its distinguished faculty includes some of the nation's leading experts in global issues.
The Pew Charitable Trusts, among the nation's largest philanthropies, support nonprofit activities in the areas of culture, education, the environment, health and human services, public policy and religion. Based in Philadelphia, the Trusts make strategic investments that encourage and support citizen participation in addressing critical issues and effecting social change. In 1997, with more than $4.5 billion in assets, the Trusts awarded $181 million to 320 nonprofit organizations.
For more information, contact Felisa Neuringer Klubes at the SAIS Public Affairs Office at 202.663.5626 or [email protected].