Community Journalists to Participate in World Affairs Fellowship

Thirteen top U.S. journalists selected as World Affairs Journalism Fellows will spend up to three weeks abroad reporting on issues that are vital to their local communities. This program is administered by the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) and sponsored by the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation, with additional funding from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. The fellowship covers travel and reporting expenses abroad and provides each Fellow with a mentor who has regional and topical expertise relevant to the reporting project. According to ICFJ Vice President of Programs Patrick Butler, "This fellowship is truly unique because it allows news organizations to make international issues relevant to their audiences across the United States.” He also says that it's "never been more important for Americans to understand what is happening beyond our borders," due to terrorism, climate change and other world issues, while news organizations are ironically scaling back international coverage.

World Affairs Journalism Fellows have won more than 20 top journalism awards for the stories they’ve done on this fellowship since 2002. This year’s fellows are:

Antigone Barton*, Reporter, The Palm Beach (Fla.) Post
Linda Blackford, Enterprise Reporter, Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader
Craig Gima, Reporter/Assistant City Editor, Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Stephanie R. Heinatz, Military Reporter, Daily Press (Newport News, Va.)
Ellen Lee, Technology Reporter, San Francisco Chronicle
Bob Moser, Business Reporter, The Daily Advertiser (Lafayette, La.)
Matt O’Brien, Reporter, The Daily Review (Hayward, Calif.)
Julian Pecquet, Staff Writer, Tallahassee (Fla.) Democrat
Jeffrey Sheban, Senior Business Reporter, Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch
J.B. Smith, Staff Writer, Waco (Texas) Tribune-Herald
Laura Ungar, Medical Writer, The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Ky.)
Carroll Wilson, Editor, Times Record News (Wichita Falls, Texas)
Dan Zehr, Business Reporter, Austin (Texas) American-Statesman

* Barton is the Pulitzer Center Fellow

The Fellows will also be honored at reception at the National Press Club on June 5, which will feature ABC's John Donvan and will include an exhibit of past fellows’ best newspaper layouts and photos.

The International Center for Journalists, a non-profit, professional organization, promotes quality journalism worldwide in the belief that independent, vigorous media are crucial in improving the human condition. Over the past 22 years, ICFJ has worked directly with journalists from 176 countries. Aiming to raise the standards of journalism, ICFJ offers hands-on training workshops, seminars, fellowships and international exchanges to reporters and media managers around the globe. For more information, or to apply for the 2008 program, please visit their website below:

World Affairs Journalism Fellows