Twelve Editors Awarded Pew Gatekeeper Fellowships for Fact-Finding Trip to Indonesia
Twelve U.S. editors have been awarded "Pew Gatekeeper Fellowships" to participate in a one-week fact-finding visit to Indonesia this month organized by the Pew Fellowships in International Journalism program at The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of The Johns Hopkins University.
As "gatekeepers" responsible for selecting the content of their papers, the editors will have a first-hand opportunity to meet with a cross-section of influential leaders and citizens in Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous nation where a fragile democracy has replaced decades of autocratic rule. The editors will be in Indonesia 06/21-28.
"We hope to raise the consciousness of editors about international news in general and the importance of one country in particular that is playing a larger role in the world," said John Schidlovsky, director of the Pew Fellowships in International Journalism. The gatekeepers program and the Pew Fellowships, which bring early and mid-career journalists to Washington for two four-month sessions each year, are funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts.
The gatekeeper editors selected for the Indonesia trip are:
Mark Abel, foreign editor, San Francisco Chronicle
Mathis Chazanov, foreign editor, Orange County Register
Frank M. Denton, editor, Wisconsin State Journal
Tiffany Harness, assistant international editor, Dallas Morning News
Holger Jensen, international editor, Rocky Mountain News
Martha Malan, senior editor (nation/world), St. Paul Pioneer Press
David Seago, editorial page editor, Tacoma News Tribune
James Simon, assistant metro editor, Seattle Times
Steven Smith, wire editor, Myrtle Beach Sun News
Thomas Uhler, assistant national/foreign editor, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Angela Wang, Asia desk editor, Christian Science Monitor
Michael Winter, assistant foreign/national editor, San Jose Mercury News
The editors are expected to meet with new Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid and a wide array of leaders from business, government, media and non-governmental organizations. They will also visit American-owned factories that have been a focus of debates over conditions for overseas workers in U.S-owned plants.
Each spring, about a dozen US editors and senior news executives will be awarded "Gatekeeper Fellowships" for a fact-finding visit to an important country in the news. The program for editors is designed to complement the two fellowship programs conducted each year for 15 early-career and mid-career journalists. Both programs aim to increase coverage of international news in the U.S. media.
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.
Among the nation's largest philanthropies, the Pew Charitable Trusts 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 1999, with approximately $4.9 billion in assets, the Trusts granted over $250 million to 206 nonprofit organizations.