IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 10, 2009
CONTACT: International Center for Journalists
Communications Director Dawn Arteaga
1.202.737.3700; darteaga@icfj.org;
International Center for Journalists Wins $6 Million
to Extend High-Impact Journalism Fellowships
New Knight Foundation award also creates
Chinese-language service on IJNet.org
Washington, DC - The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has approved a new $6 million, three-year grant for the high-impact Knight International Journalism Fellowships program run by the International Center for Journalists.
Knight International Fellows work on projects that create lasting, visible change in the quality and free flow of news in the public interest around the world. They are specially selected for targeted projects that go beyond training journalists: They help create new professional associations and journalism schools, develop digital corruption trackers and new cell phone services, and build networks of citizen journalists.
“The International Center for Journalists is a global leader in media development,” said Eric Newton, Knight Foundation Vice President for Journalism Programs. “Their fellows train the journalists who write the stories that move societies to improve the lives of their people.”
In the coming year, Knight Fellows will launch:
- New investigative units at leading news organizations in the Middle East.
- A Web site that will map citizen reports on corruption so that Panamanian journalists can expose abuses.
- A new online association in India dedicated to improving transparency, making government data easily available to journalists for the first time.
“Knight Fellows have helped local journalists produce stories that have brought at least 20 changes in laws, policies and government spending in the past two years alone,” said Joyce Barnathan, ICFJ President. “Imagine the potential for change over the next three years.”
The new grant will also provide funds for the International Journalists’ Network, www.ijnet.org, to add Chinese to its already robust offerings in Arabic, English, Persian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. IJNet is the go-to resource for the international media community to learn about training and networking opportunities.
Over the past two years, the Knight International Fellowships have attracted more than $7 million in additional funding. That includes $3.7 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help African journalists better cover health and poverty issues. For more information on the program, please visit www.knight.icfj.org.
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The International Center for Journalists, a non-profit, professional organization, promotes quality journalism worldwide in the belief that independent, vigorous media are crucial in improving the human condition. Now celebrating its 25th anniversary, ICFJ has worked directly with more than 55,000 journalists from 176 countries. ICFJ offers hands-on training workshops, seminars, fellowships and international exchanges to journalists and media managers around the globe. For more information, visit www.icfj.org.
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation advances journalism in the digital age and invests in the vitality of communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers. Since 1950, the foundation has granted more than $400 million to advance quality journalism and freedom of expression. Knight Foundation focuses on projects that promote community engagement and lead to transformational change. For more, visit www.knightfoundation.org.