This spring in Mexico, Juan Luis García founded a network of environmental journalists focused on marine issues, which is particularly important in a country with 6,800 miles of ocean coastline.

García’s initiative exemplifies the outstanding work done recently by Alfred Friendly Fellows sponsored by Pat and Janna Stueve, work that demonstrates the quality of journalists whose careers the couple boosted.

Juan Luis García

In Nepal, Binita Dahal covered breaking news for the BBC, including the death of a cultural scholar who had been the only living Nepali whose image was minted on a silver coin. In India, Danish Raza wrote about the rise in mob killings of Muslim cow owners by Hindu zealots. Bilge Kotan of Turkey wrote about Istanbul’s Syrian refugees getting caught in a political crossfire, a digital article for Turkey’s first English language TV station, TRT World.

Stueve Fellow David Mono Danga of South Sudan was among 35 journalists from around the world chosen to participate in the Entrepreneurial Journalism Creators Program at City University of New York. Danga will work from October through the end of the year with the Newmark Graduate School of Journalism to further develop his investigative news site in South Sudan. 

The journalists all say the Alfred Friendly fellowships  funded by the Patrick and Janna Stueve Foundation since 2016 were instrumental in their achievements.

Pat Stueve, an Alfred Friendly Foundation board member, said the nonprofit organization’s mission directly aligns with their passion for promoting the importance of a free and vigorous press. “One of the reasons for my involvement is, I came of age during the Watergate era and I got to see firsthand what an impact a free press had, and that made a huge impression on me.”

Stueve’s Kansas City law firm recently established The Stueve Siegel Hanson Fund for Press Freedom, which will support an annual fellowship for a journalist working to improve the legal system or race relations in his or her home country.

Stueve’s law partners Norman Siegel and George Hanson also funded fellowships, including those for Dima Stoianov of Moldova and Yan Zhang of China in 2019.

Pat and Janna Stueve accept an award from Alfred Friendly presented by President Randy Smith in Washington in 2018

During his fellowship in 2018, Garcia worked at Miami Herald’s sister publication, El Nuevo Herald, and the Texas Tribune, a highly successful member-supported digital media organization “My experience in the Texas Tribune was a key to falling in love with nonprofit media,” Garcia said.

García is editor in chief for Causa Natura Media, a non-profit digital news platform focused on environmental topics. 

“We use data journalism, transparency platforms (a sort of Mexican sunshine law), and investigative resources to provide our audience with a new look at natural resources,” García said. During to his training at the Missouri School of Journalism, he learned one of the visualization tools for big data sets frequently used by Causa Natura — Tableau.  I knew it was a matter of time for me to need it.”

In April, García’ founded the Journalism Network of the Sea (Red de Periodismo del Mar) that involves a team of 35 journalists in Mexo. “We have provided production grants for quality stories, and we have exciting plans for the future.”

García told LatAm Journalism Review that the network seeks to coordinate journalists interested in marine issues, provide support, guidance, training and financing opportunities.

Alfred Friendly Press Partners trains early-career journalists like the Stueve fellows from countries with underdeveloped media to practice professional, ethical, and innovative journalism. 

“There is no nonprofit that I have ever been involved with that has the results and the impact that this foundation has had,” Stueve said.  “Think about it: over 300 journalists in 90 countries have been impacted by this foundation.”