Eight foreign journalists awarded Knight Fellowships at Stanford

Eight foreign journalists have been awarded John S. Knight Fellowships for the 2009-10 academic year at Stanford, including the program's first fellow from Singapore.

This is the first group of Knight Fellows selected based on the program's new focus on innovation, entrepreneurship and leadership. Under the changes, the program is placing particular emphasis on foreign journalists who can have a direct impact on the development of a free press and flow of information in their countries.

During their stay at Stanford, Knight Fellows pursue independent courses of study, participate in special seminars and work on individual journalism projects.

In May, the program will announce the selection of 12 Knight Fellows from the United States.

Following is a list of the new international fellows and their areas of study:

Justin Arenstein, publisher and CEO, African Eye News Service and HomeGrown Magazines, Nelspruit, South Africa. Arenstein will explore strategies for independent grassroots media in southern Africa to exploit the mobile web. He will evaluate the potential for joint ventures around the aggregation of content, reader and market research, advertising and marketing, and technology development.

Alfonso Cuellar, editor-in-chief, Semana magazine, Bogotá, Colombia. Cuellar will study how the journalists in other post-conflict countries make the transition from covering national crises to "everyday" news.

Marcus Herbert, executive producer, Factual Programmes, British Broadcasting Corp., Glasgow, United Kingdom. Herbert will explore the cultural, intellectual and business aspects involved in developing a better approach to mainstream science journalism.

Kim Mikyung, senior reporter, Seoul Shinmun Daily, South Korea (Shinyoung Journalism Fellow). Kim will explore if and how the six-party talks aimed at resolving the North Korean nuclear crisis can evolve into a northeast Asia peace and security mechanism.

Lydia Lim, senior political correspondent, The Straits Times, Singapore. Lim will study the effects of self-censorship on journalists in authoritarian countries and look for ways to help journalists overcome self-imposed constraints in a new media landscape.

Martin Pallares, political editor, Diario El Comercio, Quito, Ecuador (Knight Latin American Fellow). Pallares will study ways to develop a multimedia site that incorporates radio and mobile devices in order to offer more in-depth analysis and debate on economic and political issues.

Paul Radu, freelance reporter and projects coordinator, the Romanian Center for Investigative Journalism, Bucharest, Romania (Lyle and Corrine Nelson International Fellow). Radu will explore ways to create new and enhance existing cross-border networks of Balkan investigative journalists.

Nadia Trinidad, senior correspondent, ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp., Manila, Philippines (Yahoo! International Fellow). Trinidad plans to study the psychological and sociological aspects of corruption in the media and design a manual to help news organizations mitigate the problem.

Financial support for the international fellows comes from sources that include the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Lyle and Corrine Nelson International Journalism Fund, Shinyoung Journalism Fund, and Yahoo! Inc. The international fellows were selected by James Bettinger, director of the Knight Fellowships program, and Dawn Garcia, deputy director.

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