Class of 2008

Abdul Razzaq al-Saiedi, Iraq, reporter, New York Times Baghdad Bureau, will study human rights law and transitional justice in post-war and post-authoritarian societies as well as examine the role that Islam plays in establishing human rights laws. Razzaq al-Saiedi is the Ruth Cowan Nash Nieman Fellow.

Ran An, China, medical reporter, China Newsweek, will study emerging public health issues resulting from economic development and how the international community cooperates with developing countries to solve public health issues. An is a Nieman Fellow in Global Health Reporting.

Alicia Anstead, Bangor Daily News, Maine, will study the imaginative, political and historical underpinnings of art in a consumer culture. Anstead is the Arts & Culture Nieman Fellow.

Iason Athanasiadis (Iason Fowden), Greece, freelance reporter working in Iran, will study the politics and economies of Central Asia and explore Third World economic development and the future of energy markets. Athanasiadis is the Carroll Binder Nieman Fellow.

Gaiutra Bahadur, freelance journalist who has written for the Philadelphia Inquirer. She will study the consequences of globalization for developing countries, particularly as it relates to migration and poverty levels. Bahadur is the Louis Stark Fellow. The fellowship honors the memory of The New York Times reporter who was a pioneer in the field of labor reporting.

James Baxter, Canada, editorial writer, Edmonton Journal, will study the legal, economic and foreign policy questions arising from increased international focus on how humans effect the environment, with an emphasis on how Canadian governments will deal with those questions. Baxter is the Martin Wise Goodman Canadian Nieman Fellow.

Ayelet Bechar, Israel, freelance film maker, will study how the Arab world views Palestinians who are citizens of Israel and examine the issues surrounding Israeli immigration policy. Bechar is the Robert Waldo Ruhl Nieman Fellow.

Joshua Benton, staff reporter, Dallas Morning News, will explore the impact of school rating systems, like the No Child Left Behind, and their impact on classroom instruction and the effects they can have on the way schools operate.

James Causey, night city editor, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, will study the marketing/advertising strategies of the hip-hop industry and examine their impact on America’s central cities and cities throughout the world.

Andres Cavelier, Colombia, multimedia manager, El Nuevo Herald, Miami, will study how U.S. and Latin American media, especially online operations, increasingly impact the more than 41 million Hispanics living in the U.S. and their families overseas. Cavelier is a John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Latin American Nieman Fellow.

Kate Galbraith, freelance correspondent, who has written for The Economist, New York Times and The Boston Globe, will study how government policy fosters or impedes the development of alternative-energy technologies such as solar power or bio-fuels.

Christine Gorman, science reporter and Time magazine contributor, will study how the basic primary healthcare infrastructure in poor countries develops and on the efforts to train and retrain people responsible for making these systems work. Gorman is a Nieman Fellow in Global Health Reporting.

Melanie Gosling, South Africa, environmental reporter, The Cape Times, will study the nature of the global economy and its role in developing countries, especially its effect on the environment and human development. Gosling’s fellowship is supported by the Nieman Society of Southern Africa.

Aboubakr Jamai, Morocco, journalist and former publisher of Le Journal in Casablanca, will study democratization and economic development, with an emphasis on the interplay of political liberalization and economic growth.

Siew Ying Leu, Malaysia, Guangzhou correspondent, South China Morning Post, will study the role China’s rural population will play in the political and economic future of the country. Leu is the Barry Bingham Jr. Nieman Fellow.

Joan Martelli, producer, ABC News in New York. She will study the increasing friction between Muslim and Christian societies throughout the world, with a specific focus on women and children in those societies.

Jenifer McKim, reporter, Orange County Register, will study the problem of child prostitution and the related issues of gender, family and sexuality that put young women at risk.

Dean Miller, executive editor, The Post Register, Idaho Falls, Idaho, will study the role of faith and pluralism in American communities. Miller is the Donald W. Reynolds Nieman Fellow in Community Journalism.

Mary Newsom, associate editor, The Charlotte Observer, will study what lies ahead for cities and metro regions and the media that help provide a sense of identity and a shared sense of mission to these communities.

Raul Peñaranda, Bolivia, editorial director, La Epoca, will study the relationship between a country’s economic structure and its living standards, with an emphasis on Latin America economies. Peñaranda is a John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Latin American Nieman Fellow.

Olivera Perkins, staff reporter, The Plain Dealer of Cleveland, will study the racial implications of urban sprawl, how policy decisions affect racially-segregated housing patterns and what role those decisions play in high urban foreclosure rates.

Andrew Quinn, United Kingdom, senior Southern Africa correspondent for Reuters, will study the politics, economics and public policy implications of AIDS vaccine research as well as undertake an intensive review of the science of AIDS. Quinn is a Nieman Fellow in Global Health Reporting.

Fernando Rodrigues, Brazil, columnist, Fohla de S. Paulo, will study how governments evolve in Third World countries and the different forms democratic governments take throughout Latin America and the world. Rodrigues is a John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Latin American Nieman Fellow.

Dan Vergano, science reporter, USA Today, will study the troubled marriage of science and society as it relates to the debate about stem cell research, evolutionary biology and climate change.

Stuart Watson, investigative reporter, WCNC-TV, Charlotte, North Carolina, will study criminal sentencing inequities and factors influencing the disparities in criminal sentencing to gain a better understanding of the connections between crime and punishment.

Walter Watson, senior supervising producer, National Public Radio in Washington, will study how the new media will affect communities that lack access to the changing way news and information are delivered.

Holly Williams, Australia, senior Asia producer, Sky News Beijing Bureau, will study the connection between social upheaval and crime and its potential political consequences to societies and governments. Williams is the William Montalbano Nieman Fellow.

Simon Wilson, United Kingdom, editor, BBC Middle East Bureau, Israel, will study how the United States and its western allies have pursued the “War on Terror” and the lessons to draw from those policies.