International Reporting Project Fellows Selected at JHU SAIS for Spring 2007 Program

Washington, D.C. - Seven U.S. journalists, including the third recipient of the NPR-Bucksbaum International Fellowship, have been awarded International Reporting Project (IRP) Fellowships at the Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) for the spring 2007 program.

The 14-week fellowships, which are aimed at encouraging coverage of international issues by the U.S. news media, begin in 01/at SAIS.

The U.S. journalists will focus on stories in Afghanistan, China, Lebanon, Liberia, Mexico, Senegal and South Africa. The IRP program combines nine weeks of study in Washington and five weeks of individual overseas reporting. This is the first time IRP Fellows have been selected to report in Afghanistan, Liberia and Senegal.

The seven fellows include one journalist who will receive an additional six weeks of training with National Public Radio as the NPR-Bucksbaum International Fellow, a position made possible by a grant from Carolyn and Matthew Bucksbaum. The recipient of that fellowship is Shereen Meraji, a radio journalist from Los Angeles. During her NPR training, she will focus on production, editorial and on-air skills, and produce a project for one of NPR*s newsmagazines.

The IRP Fellows for spring 2007, their affiliations and the countries on which they will focus are:

• Vanessa Gezari, national reporter, St. Petersburg Times - Liberia
• Steve Kiehl, staff writer, Baltimore Sun - Mexico
• Nikole Killion, anchor/reporter, WJLA NewsChannel 8 (Arlington, Va.) - South Africa
• Christina Larson, managing editor, Washington Monthly - China
• Shereen Meraji, associate producer, National Public Radio, Los Angeles - Lebanon
• Jessica Reaves, reporter, Chicago Tribune - Senegal
• Greg Warner, freelance reporter, WHYY-FM, Philadelphia - Afghanistan

Two of the spring 2007 IRP Fellows, Killion and Reaves, are focusing on international health issues. Each year, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation provides support for IRP Fellows to cover global health issues.

Since 1998, 145 journalists have been selected as IRP Fellows and have reported from more than 75 different countries.

The next deadline for applications for the IRP Fellowships and the NPR-Bucksbaum International Fellowship is 04/1/2007, for the fall 2007 program. For more information, call 202.663.7761 or email [email protected].

The IRP Fellowships program is based at SAIS, one of the country's leading graduate schools devoted to the study of international relations. Located in downtown Washington, the school enrolls more than 450 full-time graduate students and mid-career professionals and has trained more than 13,000 alumni in all aspects of international affairs.