U.S. journalists from CBS Evening News, NBC News, and other organizations, will spend the summer reporting from Germany while 10 top German journalists will be based at The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe and other leading U.S. news organizations

Washington, D.C. – Twenty select young journalists from the United States and Germany will spend the summer working as foreign correspondents on either side of the Atlantic as 2008 Arthur F. Burns Journalism Fellows.

The International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) and the Internationale Journalisten-Programme (IJP) in Konigstein, Germany, administer the Arthur F. Burns Fellowship Program. The journalists will work at host newspapers, magazines, radio outlets and television stations for two months, turning those reporting efforts into stories for their home and host media outlets.

“For twenty years now, the Arthur F. Burns Fellowship program has been doing its part to improve the transatlantic relationship,” said Burns Chairman of the Board Frank Loy. “Not only is it an extraordinary learning opportunity for young German and American journalists, but its impact on readers and viewers in both countries is wide-reaching and diverse.”

Today, at least half of German journalists who report on international issues are former Burns fellows.

The 2008 Burns Fellows from the U.S. are: (host media outlets are in italics)

Tony Ganzer, morning edition producer, KJZZ 91.5 FM, Tempe, AZ (Deutsche Welle Radio English Service, Bonn) Michael Giglio, staff writer, Sporting News Yearbook, Charlotte, NC (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Frankfurt) Deborah Kolben, freelance writer, Brooklyn, NY (Deutsche Welle Online, Berlin)
Holly Pickett, freelance photojournalist, Cairo, Egypt (Süddeutsche Zeitung / jetzt.de, Munich)
Ira Porter, reporter, The News Journal (Newcastle, Del.), Philadelphia, PA (Spiegel Online, Berlin)
Crystal Reid, business reporter, Bismarck Tribune, Bismarck, ND (Associated Press, Berlin)
Elizabeth Sprague, researcher, CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, New York, NY (Deutsche Welle TV, Berlin)
Irene Trullinger, editor, NBC News, New York, NY (Reuters TV, Berlin)
Sarah Wildman, freelance writer, Washington, DC (Financial Times Deutschland, Berlin)
Alisha Wyman, reporter, The Union Democrat, Sonora, CA (Der Tagesspiegel, Berlin)

The 2008 Burns Fellows from Germany are: (host media outlets in italics)

Susanne Amann, editor, Spiegel Online, Hamburg (San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco, CA)
Markus Balser, editor, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Munich (The Wall Street Journal, New York, NY)
Jan-Hendrik Becker, anchor/producer, NDR (TV), Berlin (CBS News, New York, NY)
Mario Kaiser, reporter, Der Spiegel, Berlin (Arizona Republic, Phoenix, AZ)
Georg Kern, editor, Magdeburger Volksstimme, Magdeburg (Seattle Times, Seattle, WA)
Fabian Löhe, editor, Focus Online, Munich (The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA)
Peter Müller, deputy head, Welt am Sonntag / Die Welt, Berlin (Chicago Tribune, Chicago, IL)
Marion Schmidt, editor, Financial Times Deutschland, Hamburg (The Boston Globe, Boston, MA)
Achim Wendler, editor, Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR 5 Radio), Munich (Chicago Public Radio WBEZ-FM, Chicago, IL)
Martin Wolf, editor, Der Spiegel, Hamburg (Los Angeles Daily News, Los Angeles, CA)

The Burns program is named in honor of the late U.S. ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany. This nine-week program takes place in August and September each year.

“With newspapers (including my own) shuttering foreign bureaus in droves, there are increasingly few opportunities for reporters like me to get foreign experience,” said 2007 Burns Fellow Allison Connolly, formerly of The Baltimore Sun. She recently accepted a job with Dow Jones newswire to cover German business news from Frankfurt.

The Arthur F. Burns Fellowship program is an exchange of journalists between Germany and the United States, with the primary purpose of increasing public knowledge and understanding about the two countries, and the relations between them, through independent mass media. A parallel goal of the program is to develop reporters who are interested, skilled and informed about U.S.-German and U.S.-European relations.

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. Aiming to raise the standards of journalism, ICFJ offers hands-on training workshops, seminars, fellowships and international exchanges to journalists and media managers around the globe.

Internationale Journalisten-Programme (IJP) aim to further the understanding of promising journalists for political, cultural and economical developments far beyond the boundaries of their home countries. Through bursaries, multi-lateral conferences, fact-finding tours and press briefings, the IJP allow journalists to make new professional contacts and gather experiences as well as gain new insights. Through its network of programmes, the IJP reach journalists in over 40 countries. For more information, visit www.ijp.org.