The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard has announced its named fellowships for the Class of 2026. These fellowships are supported by foundation grants and endowed funds that provide important financial assistance to journalists from the United States and abroad.
Ridwan Karim Dini-Osman, a Ghanaian journalist who works as a senior reporter and news presenter at the EIB Network in Accra and a freelance correspondent for the U.S. radio program “The World,” is the Barry Bingham Jr. Nieman Fellow. Bingham, a 1956 Harvard graduate, was the editor and publisher of the Courier-Journal and Louisville Times in Kentucky.
Daniel Drepper, most recently head of investigative cooperation between the Süddeutsche Zeitung and the German public broadcasters NDR and WDR, 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.
Two journalists have been selected as the Murrey Marder Nieman Fellows in Watchdog Journalism: Silvia Foster-Frau, a national investigative reporter covering immigration for The Washington Post, and Sotiris Sideris, the data editor at the Center for Collaborative Investigative Journalism in the U.S. and Reporters United in Greece. 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.
Marcela García, a Boston Globe opinion columnist and associate editor, 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.
Suha Halifa, the senior editor of The Times of Israel Arabic, 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.
Simone Iglesias, an economy and government reporter for Bloomberg News in Brasília, Brazil, is the 2026 Knight Latin American Nieman Fellow. The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has funded dozens of Nieman Fellowships for journalists from Latin America since 1981.
Yao-Hua Law, a science and environment journalist who co-founded and is editor of Macaranga Media, Malaysia’s only environmental news outlet, is the Atsuko Chiba Nieman Fellow. The Chiba fellowship was established in memory of Atsuko Chiba, a 1968 Nieman Fellow from Japan.
Shany Littman, a magazine and feature writer for the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz, is the 2026 Ruth Cowan Nash Nieman Fellow. Nash was best known for her work as an Associated Press war correspondent during World War II. She also served as president of the Washington Press Club.
Andrea Marinelli, the deputy editor of the foreign affairs desk at Corriere della Sera, Italy’s leading newspaper, 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.
Ling Wei, a Beijing-based freelance editor with Phoenix News and an independent writer, is the inaugural Liang-Zhou Nieman Fellow. The fellowship honors the memory of the influential Chinese political theorist, philosopher and journalist Liang Qichao and his eldest grandchild, Zhou Nianci.
After completing two semesters of study at Harvard, Wufei Yu, a Hong Kong-based journalist who most recently reported for Sanlian Lifeweek Magazine, will begin a nine-month reporting fellowship with The Associated Press as part of a Nieman-AP partnership supported by Schmidt Futures.
The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard educates leaders in journalism, promotes innovation, and elevates the standards of the profession. More than 1,700 journalists from 100 countries have been awarded Nieman Fellowships since 1938. The foundation also publishes Nieman Reports, an online magazine covering thought leadership in journalism; Nieman Journalism Lab, a website reporting on the future of news, innovation and best practices in the digital age; and Nieman Storyboard, a website showcasing exceptional narrative journalism and nonfiction storytelling.
