FEATURED STORIES

Fellowship Impressions

"To make it short: The two months made me even more curious, suspicious and excited about the country than I was before. I learned a lot about the American culture, the way of life, their habits, their society and their way of thinking. But all that raised a lot more questions--the more you get into a country the more things you want to know. Therefore I will be back some day."
Susanne Amann, editor, Spiegel Online, Hosted by San Francisco Chronicle

"Possibly the most rewarding part of working at DW-TV was meeting and learning why and how each person in the English Department (each as interesting as the next) had found their way there. My curiosity also reached beyond DW-TV to Berlin. The people I met all had great stories and Berlin itself was fascinating to experience. The city is very diverse and draws amazing artists and creative thinkers. This may be partly due to the low cost of living, but also because it is a city that seems to be reinventing itself daily. It was fascinating just to live amongst everyone and witness all the activity. I met many ex-pats whom I also interviewed for possible stories in the future."
Elizabeth Sprague, researcher, CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, NY, Hosted by Deutsche Welle TV, Berlin

"I was able to freely choose my host department after two days of orientation and meetings with all the editors. To do as much 'shoe-leather-reporting' as possible, I decided to join the City section, although I ended up writing also for the Regional desk and the Business section. Through this arrangement, I wasn't cramped in my style and could stretch myself completely: I was able to choose 'my' topics, and I was able to do as much research as necessary, a feat I had rarely before enjoyed in my career as a journalist."
Fabian Löhe, editor, Focus Online, Munich, Hosted by The Philadelphia Inquirer

FROM A HOST:
"As I quickly glanced at today's paper, I wondered, where did we get this cool story about the German bank and Lehman Brothers? Then I quickly realized--of course, it's Fabian!
You've really set a new standard for foreign fellows. Your enterprise stories have graced just about every section front of our paper, your curiosity about Pennsylvania and the United States is inspiring, and the jolt of energy you've injected into our newsroom is greatly appreciated.
Thanks for all your hard work, good cheer and great journalism."
Vernon Loeb, deputy managing editor, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Host to Fabian Löhe

"I chose Chicago Public Radio as my host, in order to get to know the U.S. public radio system. It couldn't have been better timing: shortly before I started, the radio station went through deep reforms and restructuring. The budget was slashed, positions were cut or reshuffled, departments were redefined. The newsroom was in the process of re-inventing itself in some aspects. This made my start easier.
Despite the changes, Chicago Public Radio was extremely well prepared for my arrival. I found my own desk with my name sign, telephone, computer and assistance with setting up my account. And when the moderator announced on-air: 'Welcome to our German fellow Achim Wendler!' I thought 'what a welcome indeed!'"
Dr. Achim Wendler, editor, Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR5 Radio), Munich, Hosted by Chicago Public Radio

"Therein lies my pitch for the Burns. It provides a legitimate outlet for the healthy desire to escape the cubicle, for at least a little while. It can make vagabond drifter into an attractive headline on a young writer's resume...It also patches together some rungs on the overseas journalist ladder, which has been hacked to pieces by the crappy state of things."
Mike Giglio, freelance journalist, Hosted by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

"Upon his return to Germany, Jan Hendrik Becker was asked by a customs agent if he had anything to declare. 'New friends, colleagues, ideas and perspectives luckily don't have to be declared,' Becker thought as he whistled happily while opening his suitcase."
Jan Hendrik Becker, anchor/producer, NDR (TV), Berlin, Hosted by CBS Evening News, New York City

"As Frank suggested would happen, suddenly in my last weeks I felt like I was running out of time: to do the things I wanted to do, to write the stories I wanted to write, to see everything I wanted to see. There were plenty of narratives I could have penned and hope to in the future!"
Sarah Wildman, freelance journalist, Hosted by Financial Times Deutschland, Berlin

"At The Union Democrat, where I am crime, courts and cops reporter, opinion is left to a team made up of our publisher, editors and a columnist. At the most, I fact check their editorials if it is something I have been writing about. But I would never dare to write my own opinion. In fact, I usually try not to have one. It was uncomfortable for me at first to do so at Der Tagesspiegel. I felt like I was betraying part of my journalistic integrity. I also realized that I didn't know what I thought about some issues because I didn't allow myself to think about them in a decisive way. Writing op eds forced me to step away from the status quo, take my thoughts from my mind and shape them into print. I realized this was part of doing things their way, and part of learning about the business in another country."
Alisha Wyman, reporter, The Union Democrat, CA, Hosted by Der Tagesspiegel, Berlin

"After a few weeks of shadowing camera crews in the field, I shifted my attention to shooting video of my own material. As a professional editor, I know what kind of material I like to work with in the edit room. So I decided it was a good challenge to see if I could go out in the field and capture those images myself. Reuters has a small DV Camera and I was given a quick course in shooting and then let loose to follow my interests. Berlin is a city with dramatic visual contrasts emblematic of the city's history, and an excellent subject for video."
Irene Trullinger, editor, NBC News Productions (TV), NY, Hosted by Reuters TV, Berlin

"Overall, I had a great experience with this organization [Jetzt.de, an online youth magazine at the Süddeutsche Zeitung]. My contact helped me above and beyond what was required of him, my section editor gave me freedom and support for enterprise stories, my section paid me a small stipend on top of my fellowship stipend and my co-workers were very nice. I enjoyed coming to work. I also have been given the great opportunity to continue freelancing for the newspaper from my home base in Cairo, Egypt."
Holly Pickett, freelance photojournalist, Egypt, Hosted by Süddeutsche Zeitung, Munich

	Marion Schmidt (center) with Tracy Jan (higher education reporter) and Roy Greene (higher education editor) in The Boston Globe newsroom.

"There are several Burns alumni in Boston, and all of those whom I contacted were very nice and helpful… But also at the Globe I got to know very interesting colleagues, who helped me feel comfortable in my host newsroom and city. All in all, I met so many nice people, had so many possibilities to travel and do research, that I can conclude: even more than the professional experience, this fellowship has enriched me on a personal level. Spending the summer of 2008 in the United States will go down as one of the best times in my life, and it enabled me to bring this country--which had become foreign over the years, and of which I had become very critical lately--back close to me; so close, that I could imagine living and working there for a while. Especially now that Barack Obama will be the next president."
Marion Schmidt, editor, Financial Times Deutschland, Hamburg, Hosted by Boston Globe

"I wrote earnings reports, covered protests for flavor, did a couple of solid features. I was able to muddle through interviews, 25 percent German, 25 percent English, 50 percent a mangy combination of the two, and get the information I needed. When they asked me to cover Chancellor Angela Merkel's open house, to listen to her speech and come back with flavor for a story on open government day, I dragged along another fellow who was more fluent. Ask for help when you need it, I say."
Crystal Reid, business reporter, Bismarck Tribune, North Dakota, Hosted by Associated Press, Berlin

"On my second day as a Burns fellow at the Los Angeles Daily News it seemed as if the floor under my feet was vibrating. A delayed result of a stressful orientation schedule the week before in Washington? Or just an extra-heavy truck passing the newsroom building outside? Normally, one would do some quick research, such as look out the window; but that's not possible in the huge newsroom of the Daily News--there are no windows.
A moment later the desks in the newsroom start to shake, the chairs shake, and with it the people sitting on them. Then the computers on the desks rattle, and before I fully realize what's going on, an editor yells: 'Earthquake. Down!' Everyone immediately seeks cover under the desks. 'Welcome to California!" a colleague shouts in my direction.
The quake lasts 30 seconds--5.4 on the Richter scale, the strongest earthquake in California in the past 14 years. That time, in 1994, the ceiling collapsed in the newsroom. This time it doesn't. 'Relax,' is the headline the next day in my host paper, 'it wasn't the Big One.'"
Martin Wolf, editor, Der Spiegel, Hamburg, Hosted by the Los Angeles Daily News

"The program is not about facilitating journalism. It's not about a vacation to Europe, or the U.S. It's not even about testing the fortitude of young journalists under pressure in a foreign land.
The Arthur F. Burns fellowship, for me, was about putting meat on the bones of my dreams. If that sounds overdramatic, let me explain. Broadcast has bred many great foreign correspondents since the medium was born, the most notable probably being Ed Murrow. He always said a correspondent has to concentrate on the little picture; use a small illustration of the times to connect to the audience abroad. Murrow used that device when describing London to Americans during WWII, and I hadn't fully understood until I was telling the stories back home. I told stories about Arizonans in the Landstuhl military hospital, about the massive Frankfurt Airport's strategy to stay in the black, about a terror plot at Cologne airport, and about Germany's efforts to find contentment with its guest worker past.
Burns is not about facilitating journalism, but more about empowering journalists. Dr. Frank Dieter Freiling is not joking when he says "You (fellows) can make of this what you want." If you wish to report, you can. If you want to travel, you will. If you want to practice the German language, benutzen Sie bitte ihre Sprache. It truly is up to the participant what is made of this grand opportunity. And I hope my listeners, and the folks I met, believe my time abroad was worthwhile. On a personal level, for me, I know it was."
Tony Ganzer, morning edition producer, KJZZ Phoenix, Hosted by Deutsche Welle, Bonn

The Arthur F. Burns Fellowship News is published four times a year by the International Center for Journalists.

Burns Program Staff:

Frank-Dieter Freiling, Director, IJP
Mario Scherhaufer, Program Director, ICFJ
Maia Curtis, ICFJ Consultant
Michelle Mathew, Program Officer, ICFJ

Named in honor of the late former U.S. ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany and former Federal Reserve Board chairman, the Arthur F. Burns Fellowship Program fosters greater understanding of German–U.S. relations among future leaders of the news media.

The Burns program was established in 1988 in Germany by the Internationale Journalisten-Programme (formerly the Initiative Jugendpresse) and was originally designed for young German journalists. In 1990, the fellowship expanded to include American journalists, making it a true exchange.

Each year 20 outstanding journalists from the United States and Germany are awarded an opportunity to report from and travel in each other's countries. The program offers 10 young print and broadcast journalists from each country the opportunity to share professional expertise with their colleagues across the Atlantic while working as "foreign correspondents" for their hometown news organizations.

Fellows work as part-time staff members at host newspapers, magazines and radio and television stations. In addition to covering local news, fellows report on events for their employers back home, while learning more about
their host country and its media.

This competitive program is open to U.S. and German journalists who are employed by a newspaper, news magazine, broadcast station or news agency, and to freelancers. Applicants must have demonstrated journalistic talent and a strong interest in U.S. - European affairs. German language proficiency is not required, but is encouraged.

The Burns Fellowship program
is administered jointly by:

December 2008 | Vol. 17, No. 4

Dr. Frank-Dieter Freiling

Dear Friends,

Another group of Burns fellows has safely returned to their home cities in October, full of new impressions and hopefully long-lasting memories. More recently, the U.S. presidential elections put the spotlight on the status of the transatlantic relationship. The Obama administration certainly has big expectations to fulfill from partners on the other side of the Atlantic.

Of course, the recent developments in the financial market and their effect throughout many industries will impact the media as well. Further job cuts and budget savings are to be expected, if not already implemented. We therefore want to make an active contribution to ensure that the quality of transatlantic coverage does not suffer in the process. In this newsletter and also on the Burns alumni Web portal (www.burnsalumni.org), you can find more information on how to apply for media research grants that are open to both U.S. and German alumni. Grants of up to $4000 will be awarded for research and travel that lead to journalistic coverage of the partner country or of transatlantic topics in your home media. The intention is not to free your home media from expenses that should be invested in international coverage, but we also know how many great story ideas are axed because of budget restraints. Therefore look into this offer carefully and maybe we can provide assistance for stories you always wanted to write, but haven't had the resources to cover. It might also be an incentive to finally join the Burns alumni web portal if you haven't done so already!

We hope to see many of you at the upcoming Arthur F. Burns Dinners--in New York in the last week of February and in Berlin in early June. We will email you more details soon.

I wish you all a peaceful Christmas season, happy holidays and a great start to the new year. May it bring us positive inspiration from our leaders and no shortage of topics to cover.

All the best for now,

Frank-Dieter Freiling

1988
Klemens Semtner left his job at the German embassy in Ankara, and now heads the Iraq desk in the Foreign Office in Berlin.

1989
Annette Dittert is now ARD's bureau chief in London.

1992
Hans-Hermann Kotte left Berlin and joined the daily Frankfurter Rundschau.

1993
Stefan Menzel is now a correspondent for the daily Handelsblatt, covering south-east Europe from Vienna.

1995
Dominik Wichmann, editor-in-chief of Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin, became a father to daughter Ella on October 1.

1997
Tobias Armbrüster left London and moved to Solingen, before he starts a new job in Cologne soon. Richard David Precht's face graced a whole page of the national magazine Stern, accompanied by an article about the search for meaning in life, a follow-up to his book Wer bin ich (Who am I)?, which already sold over 600,000 copies.

1998
Carter Dougherty, The International Herald Tribune's correspondent in Frankfurt, became the proud father of Caio Alexander, born on Nov 3. Stefan Krücken, editor-at-large of German GQ, published a riveting story on joining the Rallyteam X-raid for five days on the PAX Rally across Portugal.

2001
Robert Jacobi published a book describing his journey across America on the Pan Americana: Amerika, der Länge nach, published by National Geographic. Andreas Tzortzis left Berlin to work for Tyler Brule's ad and style agency Winkreative, located in London.

2003
Stefanie Bolzen will move to Brussels in January to become the EU correspondent for the daily Die Welt and the weekly Welt am Sonntag newspapers. Markus Verbeet left his post as Der Spiegel's EU correspondent in Brussels, and now covers education from headquarters in Hamburg. Waltraud Kaserer left Austria's business magazine Format to become press spokesperson for Austria's new Minister of Economics and Labour, Dr. Reinhold Mitterlehner.

2004
Corinna Emundts (2004 Kellen Fellow) heads the Berlin bureau of tagesschau.de, the online news service of ARD's daily news show.

2005
Manuel Hartung published Wissen to go, ein Studium generale in 100 Begriffen (Piper).

2006
Inga Michler gave birth to Lukas Matti on May 29, making it five in the family now.

2007

Lara Fritzsche (above) moved from Cologne to Paris where she continues to freelance. Damaso Reyes has returned to New York after his Fulbright Fellowship in Vienna. He continues to work on his long-term photojournalism project, www.theeuropeans.net, which was just incorporated as a not-for-profit corporation. Tanya Schevitz and her husband welcomed a second son, Catcher Che Ashkinos (below), on November 24.


2008
Michael Giglio has been hired as a writing fellow by Village Voice Media. He will join the Houston Press in January. Peter Müller left Welt am Sonntag to join the daily Handelsblatt, also out of their Berlin bureau. Achim Wendler and his wife, Alek, welcomed a baby girl, Mathilda, on November 4. The family lives in Munich.

2009 Application Deadlines
German Applicants: February 1
U.S. Applicants: March 1

Apply Now (U.S.)
Apply Now (German)

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U.S. Trustees

Patron: The Honorable Klaus Scharioth
German Ambassador to the United States
Joyce Barnathan
President, International Center for Journalists (ICFJ)
Elizabeth Becker
Contributor to the International Herald Tribune and German Marshall Fellow
The Honorable J.D. Bindenagel
Vice President, Community, Government & International Relations, DePaul University
Dr. Kurt Bock
Chairman and CEO, BASF USA
Marcus W. Brauchli
Executive Editor, The Washington Post
The Honorable Richard Burt
Senior Advisor, McLarty and Associates (Honorary Chairman)
Dr. Martin Bussmann
Mannheim LLC
David W. Detjen
Partner, Alston & Bird, LLP
Dr. Frank-Dieter Freiling
Director, Internationale Journalisten-Programme (IJP)
Prof. Dr. Ronald Frohne
President and CEO,
GWFF USA, Inc.
James F. Hoge, Jr.
Editor, Foreign Affairs (Honorary Chairman)
Mary Jacobus
CEO, The New York Times Regional Media Group
Fred Kempe
President and CEO, The Atlantic Council of the United States
The Honorable Henry A. Kissinger
Chairman, Kissinger Associates
The Honorable Frank E. Loy
Former Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs (Chairman)
Senator Richard G. Lugar
United States Senator (R-Ind.)
Wolfgang Pordzik
Executive Vice President, Corporate Public Policy, DHL North America
Garrick Utley
President, Levin Institute, SUNY
Stanford S. Warshawsky
Chairman, Bismarck Capital, LLC
Legal Advisor:
Phillip C. Zane
Attorney at Law, Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz

German Trustees

Patron: The Honorable William R. Timken, Jr.
U.S. Ambassador to Germany
Erik Bettermann
Director-General, Deutsche Welle
Prof. Dr. Reinhard Bettzuege
German Ambassador to Brussels
Dr. Martin Blessing
CEO, Commerzbank AG
Maria Böhmer
State Minister, Member of Parliament, CDU/CSU
Tom Buhrow
Anchorman, ARD
Sabine Christiansen
Journalist, TV21 Media
Dr. Mathias Döpfner
CEO, Axel Springer AG
Thomas Ellerbeck
Chairman, Vodafone Foundation
Gernot Erler
State Minister, Foreign Office
Leonhard F. Fischer
Partner, RHJI Swiss Management
Emilio Galli-Zugaro
Head Group Communications, Allianz Group
Tessen von Heydebreck
Chairman, Deutsche Bank Foundation (Chairman)
Luc Jochimsen
Member of Parliament, Die Linke
Lars G. Josefsson
President and CEO, Vattenfall
Hans-Werner Kilz
Editor-in-Chief, Süddeutsche Zeitung
Dr. Torsten-Jörn Klein
Board member, Gruner + Jahr AG
Carsten Maschmeyer
Chairman, AWD Holding
Bascha Mika
Editor-in-Chief, Die Tageszeitung
Kerstin Müller
Former State Minister, Member of Parliament, Buendnis 90/Die Grünen
Prof. Markus Schächter
Director-General, ZDF German TV
Helmut Schäfer
Former State Minister, Foreign Office (Honorary Chairman)
Monika Schaller
Senior Vice President, Goldman, Sachs & Co.
Friede Springer
Publisher, Axel Springer AG
Franz Thönnes
State Secretary and Member of Parliament, Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (SPD)
Tobias Trevisan
CEO, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
George Weidenfeld
Former CEO, Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Dr. Guido Westerwelle
Member of Parliament and Chairman of the Freie Demokratische Partei (FDP)
Ulrich Wilhelm
Government Spokesman

The Arthur F. Burns Board of Trustees in the United States and Germany acknowledges with gratitude the support of the following organizations and individuals who have made the 2008 Arthur F. Burns program possible.

Sponsors in the U.S.
Alston & Bird, LLP
Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz PC
BASF
The Capital Group Companies Charitable Foundation
Continental Airlines
Deloitte & Touche
DHL North America
The Ford Foundation
The German Marshall Fund of the United States
Goldman, Sachs & Co.
GWFF USA, Inc.
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
The Ladenburg Foundation

Individual Contributions
John and Gina Despres
David Detjen
The Hon. Frank E. Loy
Stanford S. Warshawsky

Sponsors in Germany
Allianz AG
Auswärtiges Amt.
Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend
Deutsche Bank AG
Goldman, Sachs & Co.
Gruner+Jahr AG
Ruhrgas AG
Siemens AG