AFPF Names 2012 Fellows
For Immediate Release: March 20, 2012
Contact: Katie Rudolph at 202-429-3740 or krudolph[at]presspartners[dot]org
Alfred Friendly Press Fellowships Names 2012 Fellows
WASHINGTON—The Alfred Friendly Press Fellowships (AFPF) is pleased to announce the 2012 Fellowship Class. The fellows arrive in the United States on March 22 for six months of journalism training in American news organizations. This marks the 29th year of the AFPF fellowship program.
The 2012 Fellows, their home publications, home countries, and host publications are:
- Ms. Aida Ahmad, The Star, Malaysia, Los Angeles Times, Daniel Pearl Fellow
- Ms. Hee Joung Kim, Money Today, South Korea, Forbes magazine
- Mr. John Ngirachu, The Nation, Kenya, The Kansas City Star
- Mr. Adnan Rashid, iMedia, Pakistan, Berkshire Eagle/WAMC (Pittsfield, MA/Albany, NY), Daniel Pearl-Saleem Shahzad Fellow
Created by Alfred Friendly, a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter and former managing editor of The Washington Post, the program places mid-career print journalists from emerging markets in America’s best newsrooms for five months. The program allows these journalists to participate first-hand in America’s constitutionally protected news-gathering and news-writing processes.
Jonathan Friendly, chairman of the Alfred and Jean Friendly Foundation Board and son of Alfred Friendly, said, “Our Fellows will have a special opportunity this year to be first-hand observers of the national elections and of how our news organizations cope with the coverage challenges. The experience will surely help them return home with new ideas about American democracy in action as well as practical approaches to improving political reporting in their home countries.”
The fellowships enable journalists who are future newsroom leaders to observe free press standards being exercised in the United States, to put those values into daily practice with the support and guidance of American colleagues, and to transfer knowledge gained on the program to colleagues at home.
“Next year will be the 30th anniversary of our program,” said Randall D. Smith, president of the Alfred Friendly Press Fellowships. “Our new fellows take their place alongside many great and courageous journalists who are now making a difference in over 78 countries. We welcome them, and remain grateful to the Friendly family’s amazing vision. The Friendly program is now playing a key role in most of the developing democracies. Some say that you can’t change the world. The Friendly family has proven that notion false.”
The two Daniel Pearl Fellows will be hosted by the Berkshire Eagle/WAMC (an NPR affiliate) and the Los Angeles Times. Underwritten by the Daniel Pearl Foundation, these special fellowships offered to journalists from Muslim countries since 2003, honor the Wall Street Journal reporter who was kidnapped and murdered in Pakistan in 2002. In 2012, one of the two fellowships also honors Saleem Shahzad, the Pakistan bureau chief of Asia Times Online who was killed in Pakistan in May 2011.
AFPF will introduce the 2012 Fellows on March 23 from 5:30-7:30 pm at the National Press Club. If you would like to join us or to schedule an interview for a later date, please contact Program Manager Katie Rudolph at 202-429-3740 or krudolph[at]presspartners[dot]org.
AFPF is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. Programs are supported by contributions from individuals, newsrooms and foundations.
Alfred Friendly Press Partners Mission: In the belief that just societies must have a vigorous and principled free press, Alfred Friendly Press Partners aims to build strong newsrooms that make possible an informed citizenry. We work to strengthen skills and values by placing talented international journalists in U.S. newsrooms and by establishing long-term training partnerships with news organizations that share our goal of fostering professional excellence.
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