International Center for Journalists

Press Box
Board of Directors
Staff

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.

Since 1984, the International Center for Journalists has worked directly with more than 40,000 journalists from 176 countries. Aiming to raise the standards of journalism, ICFJ offers hands-on training, workshops, seminars, fellowships and international exchanges to reporters and media managers around the globe.

At ICFJ, we believe in the power of journalism to promote positive change. To support this work, click here.

Without a free and credible press, democracy cannot flourish. Yet in many countries, billions of people cannot trust the news they see, read and hear. Often, journalists lack training. Many report under difficult and dangerous circumstances and many more are so underpaid they have to moonlight in jobs that conflict with their reporting.

That's why the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) is out there every day, working with our colleagues to build a strong, independent news media. Our workshops, seminars, fellowships and exchanges cover basic and specialized reporting, news writing, editing, television and radio production, multimedia, professional ethics, freedom of expression, business management and more.

Today the Center's story can best be told in terms of journalists' lives transformed and the world's citizens better informed. Results of ICFJ's work can be seen in:

• The Russian news executive who, after ICFJ training, found the courage to buck the practice of taking payments from local political candidates in exchange for favorable coverage. Her paper's circulation rose along with its credibility.
• The young Lebanese reporter who discovered how to investigate conditions in women's prisons. Her front-page story jolted the country and compelled politicians to set up an inquiry.
• The Nicaraguan journalist, a correspondent in a small rural area, who brought together publishers, reporters and academics to create a code of ethics and raise professional standards.
• The South African journalists who learned how to better manage and market their fledgling news service so that their in-depth stories on poor and neglected regions of the country would reach a wider audience.

All of these professionals—and thousands more like them—graduated from ICFJ programs, determined to do work they can be proud of, and that benefits the greater good.

Pioneering Training Strategies
ICFJ is committed to taking the power of the press to every corner of the world, sharing the best practices of the journalism profession in two primary ways.

The Center deploys top-rate journalists and managers from around the world to other parts of the globe to train and consult. Because ICFJ firmly believes in real-world instruction, ICFJ programs incorporate hands-on activities, sending trainees into the field to put into practice what they've learned, to build sources and hone skills.

The Center also brings overseas media professionals to the United States. Visiting journalists undergo intensive training in Washington, D.C., and often intern at newsrooms around the country, working side-by-side with their U.S. colleagues. Click here to learn more about our programs.

Making a Difference
ICFJ's flagship, the Knight International Journalism Fellowships Program, stimulates and nurtures transformational change in journalists, media and societies around the world. Funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the fellowship program sends international media professionals to key countries where there are opportunities for meaningful and measurable change. Working with partner organizations on high-impact projects, they build skills and enhance the standards of independent news organizations. By raising professional journalism practices worldwide, Knight International helps media make societies more accountable to their citizens.

A Support System
ICFJ favors long-term programs and strong follow-up activities, based on the firm belief that professional journalism programs should have lasting impact. To this end, ICFJ often provides online mentoring through e-mail discussion groups after on-site training programs are completed. Online mentors offer valuable advice, critiques and professional guidance to program participants once they are back on the job and facing everyday challenges. In addition, the Center's training-of-trainers programs enable local journalists to continue to share skills long after ICFJ's trainers have departed.

The Center also operates the International Journalists' Network, an online source for professional training opportunities, training materials and tip sheets, media assistance news, codes of ethics and media laws. The IJNet staff connects journalists from many nations through active discussion forums, weekly e-mail bulletins, by briefing visiting journalists in Washington, D.C., and by maintaining close ties with many colleagues around the world, both journalists and media assistance professionals. Thousands of journalists rely on IJNet for vital professional information.

IJNet and ICFJ's ongoing support reassure journalists, who often work in isolation, that they are not alone.

Tools for Progress
To address the serious lack of training materials in the developing world, ICFJ produces affordable media training manuals and videos in many languages. These resources empower journalists, providing relevant real-world, region-specific examples and realistic solutions for media professionals who often have never seen an independent press at work.

Vital Partners
The Center draws from a deep pool of journalists and media managers who serve as trainers, consultants, and experts in ICFJ's worldwide programs. ICFJ works in partnership with numerous news organizations, journalism schools, professional associations and media training centers in the United States and overseas. These partners host trainers and professional interns, help develop curricula and offer in-kind contributions to ICFJ's overall mission.

As ICFJ charts its course for the next 20 years, it will move boldly to develop innovative training projects and find fresh ways to strengthen independent media and fragile democracies.