2017 Fellowship Class
Ashley Lime
Nairobi, Kenya | Sub-Editor, The Standard
Alfred Friendly Fellow | Host: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Editor blazes trail for female journalists in Kenya
Ashley Lime is sitting in a cold room at the corner of her office meeting room table, watching ten editors argue about what should go on their newspaper’s front page for the next day. She chimes in amid the rapid fire back and forth to suggest a human interest angle for a political news story. The buzzing room quiets down, ten sets of eyes dart at her, as if noticing her presence for the first time. The cold room feels colder now. (More…)
Binita Dahal
Kathmandu, Nepal | Correspondent, BBC Nepali Service
Pat and Janna Stueve Fellow | Kansas City Public Television
BBC reporter breaks gender stereotypes in Nepal
In her heart of hearts, while growing up in Gothatar on the outskirts of Kathmandu, Binita Dahal envisioned herself as a journalist. Her isolated, mountainous country is a rigid patriarchal society with few female reporters. But she was not deterred. When she entered the University of Nepal and learned the prestigious school offered a Bachelor in Media Studies program, “I couldn’t resist jumping on that subject.” (More…)
Nicholas Cheng
Petaling Jaya, Malaysia | Reporter, Star Media Group
Daniel Pearl Fellow | Host: San Francisco Chronicle, LA Times
Movie featuring journalist inspired Malaysian reporter
Nicholas Cheng was watching “The Paper,” a movie about the workaholic editor of a financially distressed tabloid newspaper in New York City, when he decided to become a journalist. He was intrigued by the editor, who, despite the demands and pressures of his job, maintains his passion for chasing news and scooping the competition. Cheng said his parents wanted him to be a doctor, and he had the grades to get into medical school, but his “heart was not in it.” (More…)
Salman Yousafzai
Peshawar, Pakistan| Reporter, The Frontier Post
Daniel Pearl Fellow | Host: Minneapolis Star Tribune
Crime reporter undaunted by dangers in northwest Pakistan
“From the very beginning my passion was always to tell stories about the place where I belong,” TheFrontier Post reporter Salman Yousafzai said. Yousafzai’s home is Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, traditionally known as “the Land of Hospitality” and the “City of Flowers.” “After the rise of Mujahideen, the image of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa changed and now it becomes, like, ‘the Land of Terror,’” Yousafzai, 29, said. (More…)
Smitha Rajan
Ahmedabad, India | Assistant Editor, DNA (Daily News and Analysis)
Frank Islam and Debbie Driesman Fellow | Host: Politifact
Indian journalist positive, and pragmatic
Early in her career, Smitha Rajan was reporting a story timed for Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday when she had an encounter that left a lasting impression on her. She was interviewing people who had dedicated their lives to serving others, and one of them was a young graduate student, the first person from his family to earn a college degree. “He could have gone ahead and had a good job earning well for himself and his family, but instead he took it upon himself to help establish a school in a tribal area,” Rajan said.“I was genuinely touched by his selfless work.” (More..)
Teo Escobar
Havana, Cuba | Reporter, 14yMedio
Alfred Friendly Fellow | Host: New Tropic, Miami
Cuban reporter pursues family business — hard-hitting journalism
Long before he wrote his first news article, Teo Escobar understood the perils that await a journalist who insists on pursuing the truth in Cuba. His mother, dissident Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez, has been arrested, threatened and subpoenaed several times for her criticism of the ruling communist party. His father, Reinaldo Escobar, has also been arrested for his reporting about sensitive issues in Cuba. The elder Escobar is now the editor-in-chief of 14ymedio.com, founded in 2014 by Sanchez as Cuba’s first independent daily digital news outlet. (More…)
Veengas Yasmeen
Karachi, Pakistan | Sub-editor/writer, Daily Ibrat
Alfred Friendly Fellow | Host: Reynolds Journalism Institute, Columbia Missourian
Pakistani reporter shines light on injustice
When she was a child in a small city in central Pakistan, Veengas Yasmin’s mother gave her a gift that changed the course of her life. It was a book by Oriana Fallaci, “Interviews with History,” a compilation of the groundbreaking Italian journalist’s seminal interviews with world leaders from Moammar Gadhafi to Henry Kissinger. Veengas derives her strength and inspiration from her mother, who raised eight children by herself. She decided to follow Fallaci’s path and become a writer. (More…)
Yuliana Romanyshyn
Kyiv, Ukraine | Reporter, Kyiv Post
Alfred Friendly Fellow | Hosts: Missourian, Chicago Tribune
War draws Ukrainian back to reporting
Yuliana Romanyshyn had a comfortable job at an information technology company in a city near Ukraine’s western border when the war with Russian-backed separatists started on the other side of the country. People quit their jobs to join Ukraine’s military forces, members of the diaspora returned home to volunteer and other citizens were finding ways to pitch in. “The war broke out and the Army was not prepared,” Romanyshyn said. “People were dying every day. I wanted to do more for my country.” (More…)