2019 Fellowship Class
Humayoon Babur
Afghanistan | Reporter, Pasbanan Media Group
Daniel Pearl Fellow | Host: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Point Park University’s Center for Media Innovation
Babur, who works for Pasbanan Media Group in Kabul, has written about a wide variety of topics in the war-torn country, from combat and car bombs to corruption and the effectiveness of foreign aid. He writes in the languages of Pashtu, Dari as well as English. He’s written extensively on environmental issues, including recent stories on groundwater contamination and disputes over water, one of which won an award from the International Water Management Institute.
Read: 2019 Daniel Pearl Fellow
Justice Baidoo
Ghana | Videographer, Joy News
Food Security Media Fellow | Host: Los Angeles Times
Baidoo is an award-winning news videographer who works on documentaries for Joy News, one of Ghana’s most influential broadcasters. His multimedia stories focus on issues including health, climate change, environmental problems and food security. He is the recent winner of the Global Health Reporting contest from the International Center for Journalists. His story on bad roads connecting farms in Ghana to markets won the Food Sustainability Media Award organized by the Thomson Reuters Foundation. He was selected to attend the Global Climate Reporting Program administered by the International Center for Journalists this year and was Ghana’s business journalist of the year in 2015 and 2016.
Read: 2019 Fellows
Lily Dobrovolskaya
Russia | Head of North American Investigations Division, Transparency International
TRACE International Foundation Fellow | Host: The Wall Street Journal
Dobrovolskaya has worked for six years as a journalist in Russian and Armenian independent media and is now head of the North American Investigations Division at Transparency International in Russia. Dobrovolskaya recently co-authored an article published in the Miami Herald about a Russian general who owned $38 million in Florida real estate and another article published through her anti-corruption nonprofit about a U.S. gas exporter’s lobbyists who failed to disclose Russian interests. Miami Herald reporter Nicholas Nehamas called Dobrovolskaya “an inspirational journalist. At great personal risk, she reports on high-level corruption and wrongdoing among the highest levels of Russian government and business. She is a natural collaborator with a keen eye for detail and an irrepressible instinct for obtaining crucial documents.”
Read: 2019 Fellows
Danish Raza
India | Reporter, Hindustan Times
Patrick and Janna Stueve Foundation Fellow | Host: StarTribune
Raza’s reporting at the Hindustan Times, India’s second largest English language daily newspaper, focuses on social justice, gender and caste violence. Assignments range from covering the Maoist insurgency to national politics. Raza recently was promoted to assistant editor and has experience teaching journalism ethics and law to college students. By the end of his fellowship, he intends to produce a handbook for journalists, “Covering Muslims in India.”
Read: Values
Dumitru Stoianov
Moldova | Reporter, RISE Moldova
John and Kathy Schirger Foundation Fellow | Host: Newsy
Stoianov is a reporter for RISE Moldova, a media outlet that investigates organized crime, money laundering, corruption, smuggling, tax fraud, arms trafficking, and the hidden business of politicians. In Moldova, he is an investigative team coordinator for projects implemented by RISE and a fact checker for the Organized Crime and Corruption Project, including its work on The Panama Papers transnational reporting project. He developed an implemented the whistleblower platform on the RISE website. Dima’s fellowship is funded by John and Kathy Schirger of Kansas City.
Read: 2019 Fellows
Yan Zhang
China | Reporter, The Initium
Gautreaux, Steigel, and Hanson Foundations Fellow | Host: USA Today
Zhang writes for Hong Kong’s largest native online media for Chinese readers worldwide. She formed The Initium’s reporting team from mainland China, reports on topics such as urbanization and economic reform. Vivian Wu, Hong Kong Bureau Chief of BBC World Services, said Zhang has produced “outstanding” stories explaining a rapidly transiting China to the readers. Zhang’s fellowship is funded by is funded by Bill and Christy Gautreaux, Norm and Lynette Siegel, and George Hanson.
Read: US Trade War with China | Tariff Retaliation | Trade Dispute Escalates | Social Media Trade War | Chinese Parents Pay Online American English Tutors
Jovan Gjorgovski
Macedonia | Broadcaster, Kanal 5
Macedonian Fellow
Jovan Gjorgovski has worked for a year as a broadcaster at Kanal 5 television station in Skopje, and was with TV24 the previous three years.
Read: Fellowship Training
Furkan Saliu
Macedonia | Journalist, TV21
Macedonian Fellow
Furkan Saliu is a journalist with TV21 in Skopje, where he started three years ago.
Read: Fellowship Training
Katerina Topalova
Macedonia | Anchor, MRTV
Macedonian Fellow
Kate Topalova has been a reporter, editor and anchor at MRTV in the capital since 2012. She previously worked at Alfa TV and Sitel TV.
Read: Fellowship Training