Posted on January 26, 2010

Knight Foundation Announces International Journalism Fellows

The Miami-based John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has announced the names and projects of six new international journalism fellows.

Administered by the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ), the three-year, $6 million grant to the Knight International Journalism Fellowships program will be used to help spread media innovation in developing countries. To prepare for their year-long assignments, the fellows will spend a week training in Washington, D.C.

This year's fellows include Kannaiah Venkatesh of India, who will develop the first Web site in India devoted to previously unreported government data and will form an online news association to promote greater government transparency; Donna Abu-Nasr of Lebanon, who will establish investigative reporting units at five news organizations in the Middle East; Jorge Luis Sierra of Mexico, who will launch a crowd-sourcing project to digitally track crime and corruption in Panama; Patricio Espinoza of the United States, who will create Peru's first broadcast journalism training center in order to improve the political coverage in that country; Manuela Huyghues Despointes of France, who will work with Senegalese journalists to better cover issues such as agriculture, microfinance, water, and sanitation; and Zarina Geloo of Zambia, who will work with journalists in that country to improve coverage of public health issues such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, and the general state of medical care in Zambia.

"These fellows will break ground by using digital technology to take investigative journalism to new levels," said ICFJ president Joyce Barnathan. "They will serve as true pioneers in ensuring greater transparency and accountability."

For more information on this year's Knight International Fellows, visit the Knight Foundation Web site.