Nieman News

The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard today announced the named fellowships for the Nieman class of 2017. These fellowships are supported by foundation grants and endowed funds that provide vital financial assistance to journalists from the United States and abroad.

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation will support Marcela Turati, a Mexican investigative journalist who covers the drug war in her country, as the 2017 Knight Latin American Nieman Fellow. Knight has funded more than 50 Nieman Fellowships for journalists from Latin America since 1981. Turati received the Nieman Foundation’s Louis Lyons Award for Conscience and Integrity in Journalism in 2013.

Karin Pettersson, the political editor-in-chief at Sweden’s Aftonbladet, the biggest daily newspaper in Scandinavia, is the 2017 Nieman-Berkman Klein Fellow in Journalism Innovation. The fellowship is a collaborative project supported by the Nieman Foundation and the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard and is designed to generate new ideas to advance quality journalism in the digital age.

Pettersson is also receiving financial support as one of two Ruth Cowan Nash Nieman Fellows in the class of 2017. Nash was best known for her work as an Associated Press war correspondent during World War II.

Alisa Sopova, a local producer and reporter for The New York Times in Ukraine, is the second Nash Fellow and is Harvard’s first Ukrainian Nieman Fellow.

Two fellows have been named as Murrey Marder Nieman Fellows in Watchdog Journalism. The fellowship honors the memory of Murrey Marder, a longtime Washington Post reporter and 1950 Nieman Fellow who funded and helped found the Nieman Watchdog Project. The 2016 Marder Fellows are:

Tyler Dukes, an investigative reporter for WRAL News in North Carolina
Robert Socha, deputy executive producer for TV documentary programs at TVN Poland

Maciek Nabrdalik, a Polish documentary photographer and member of the VII Photo Agency, will receive the Anja Niedringhaus Nieman Fellowship for Visual Journalism. The fellowship honors the memory of 2007 Nieman Fellow and AP photographer Anja Niedringhaus, who was shot and killed while on assignment in Afghanistan in the spring of 2014.

Chisomo Ngulube, chief editor for TV News at the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation, is the Barry Bingham Jr. Nieman Fellow. Bingham, a 1956 Harvard graduate, was the editor and publisher of the Courier-Journal and Louisville Times.

Katherine Goldstein, who has worked as a senior editor at Slate and Vanity Fair, is the Louis Stark Nieman Fellow. The fellowship honors the memory of the New York Times reporter who was a pioneer in the field of labor reporting.

Subina Shrestha, a filmmaker and correspondent for Al Jazeera in Nepal, is the Atsuko Chiba Nieman Fellow. The Chiba fellowship honors the memory of Atsuko Chiba, a 1968 Nieman Fellow from Japan.

Christian Feld, a Brussels-based political correspondent for ARD German TV, is the Robert Waldo Ruhl Nieman Fellow. Ruhl, a 1903 Harvard graduate, was editor and publisher of the Medford Mail-Tribune in Oregon from 1911-1967.

Georg Diez a German reporter and columnist covering politics and culture for Der Spiegel, is the Carroll Binder Nieman Fellow. The Binder Fund honors 1916 Harvard graduate Carroll Binder, who expanded the Chicago Daily News Foreign Service, and his son, Carroll “Ted” Binder, a 1943 Harvard graduate.

Nkem Ifejika, a presenter at the BBC World Service in London, is the William Montalbano Nieman Fellow. Montalbano was a 1970 Nieman Fellow and a prize-winning Los Angeles Times reporter who reported from 100 countries during his 38-year career.

Kim Youngtae, an editor for Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation in South Korea, is being sponsored by The Asia Foundation.

Mary Louise Schumacher, the art and architecture critic for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, is the 2017 Arts and Culture Nieman Fellow.

The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard educates leaders in journalism and elevates the standards of the profession through special programs that convene scholars and experts in all fields. More than 1,500 journalists from 94 countries have been awarded Nieman Fellowships since 1938. The foundation’s other initiatives include Nieman Reports, a quarterly print and online magazine that covers thought leadership in journalism; Nieman Journalism Lab, a website that reports on the future of news, innovation and best practices in the digital media age; and Nieman Storyboard, a website that showcases exceptional narrative journalism and explores the future of nonfiction storytelling.

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