2012 Fellowship Class

Aida Ahmad
The Star, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Home Newspaper)
Los Angeles Times (U.S. Host Newsroom)
2012 Daniel Pearl Fellow

Since 2010, Aida Ahmad, 34, has worked as a reporter for The Star newspaper in Kuala Lumpur.  Upon joining the company, she began working with the Sunday Metro section. In June 2011, she transferred to The Star’s Metro section, which is published daily and features local regional highlights.

Aida started her journalism career in 2000, when she joined the New Straits Times as a cadet journalist reporting on general news. From 2006-2010, she worked with The Expat Group, a media company in Kuala Lumpur that reaches resident expats, overseas visitors and business travelers. She began as a staff writer and later became a contributing editor, assisting the group editor with the company’s print publications and websites.

Aida holds a degree in journalism from Taylor’s College and a bachelor’s degree in communications and media management from the University of South Australia.

One of her fellowship goals at the Los Angeles Times is to learn how to better use digital journalism to report the news. She also wants to cover the entertainment industry in LA.

See Aida’s Fellowship Blog here.

 

Hee Joung Kim
Money Today, Seoul, South Korea (Home Newspaper)
Forbes (U.S. Host Newsroom)

Since 2002, Hee Joung Kim, 32, has been a staff reporter for Money Today in Seoul.  Hee Joung covers the stock market, specifically companies listed in the KOSPI and KOSDAQ.  Prior to covering the stock market, she reported on online games and the retail and food industries.  She also spent two years in the editorial department.

During her time in the investment department, she wrote a series on personal investment under the title, “Hee Joung opens her eyes to investments.”  She also published a book, Drinking Starbucks vs. Buying Starbucks that sold more than 50,000 copies.

Hee Joung received a bachelor’s degree in communication in 2002 from Ewha Womans University.

Her fellowship goals are to explore how the American media covers investments and uses social networking.

Hee Joung is the third Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellow from Money Today.

Check out Hee’s Fellowship Blog here.

 

John Ngirachu
Daily Nation, Nairobi, Kenya (Home Newspaper)
The Kansas City Star (U.S. Host Newsroom)

John Ngirachu, 29, has been a full-time reporter at the Daily Nation since May 2008. He joined the Nation Media Group in August 2007 as a trainee in the Media Lab program.

John is based in Nairobi, Kenya and primarily reports on Parliament and politics. Recently he also has reported on the war against the Al Shabaab Islamist militia by the Kenya Defence Forces inside Somalia. That war started in October 2011. Additionally, he writes news and feature stories for the Saturday Nation and Sunday Nation.

John’s stories have appeared in The East African, a regional weekly paper, the Daily Monitor in Uganda and The Citizen in Tanzania, all Nation Media Group publications.

In 2007, John received his bachelor’s degree in education from Kenyatta University. In 2011, he was a runner-up in the David Astor Journalism Awards.

John’s fellowship goals include learning more about computer-assisted reporting, videography, and developing his feature writing skills. He also hopes to learn about newsroom management during his time at The Kansas City Star.

John is the sixth Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellow from the Nation Media Group.

Click here to access John’s Fellowship Blog.

 

Adnan Rashid
IMEDIA UK, Islamabad, Pakistan (Home Radio Station)
Berkshire Eagle/WAMC (U.S. Host Newsrooms)
2012 Daniel Pearl-Saleem Shahzad Fellow

Adnan Rashid, 30, is a senior producer at IMEDIA and leads a team of radio journalists in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Northern Pakistan. The radio journalists highlight social issues ignored by other media. Adnan is responsible for monitoring and selecting news stories, maintaining editorial standards and producing a 30-minute weekly program on the area’s social issues.

In 2010, Adnan created his own Media Dimensions Swat, a local media organization that works to improve the quality of journalism and educate people through media. Two years earlier, he established the first legal radio station, Pact Radio, in the Swat Valley region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He worked at Pact Radio as a Station Manager/Regional Coordinator until 2011. Since May 2009, Adnan also has been a freelance reporter for BBC Outlook.

Adnan began his journalism career as an intern for the University of Peshawar campus radio while still in graduate school. In October 2005, he was hired by Internews Media Network as a full-time radio producer assigned to highlight the plight of the Kashmir Earthquake victims. He also worked as an Assistant Director/Coordinator at Zeepar Studios producing video documentaries.

In 2005, Adnan completed his master’s degree in journalism and mass communication at the University of Peshawar. To improve his professional skills, he has attended various training workshops including “Intercultural Reporting” in Bonn sponsored by the Deutsche Welle Ackedime, the U.S.-Pakistan Professional Partnership in Journalism and the International Center for Journalists (2011).

Adnan’s main fellowship goals are to learn how to better use social media in his reporting and to develop his digital journalism skills.

See Adnan’s Fellowship Blog here.

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