News

ICFJ Fellow Builds Community of Women Journalists in Post-Assad Syria

When Bashar al-Assad’s government was overthrown at the end of 2024, Mais Katt, a Syrian journalist who has lived in exile for 14 years, immediately returned to her country. She was one of the first journalism trainers to enter Damascus after the fall of the regime. Her goal? Help prepare women journalists to take advantage of their newfound freedoms.

ICFJ Fellow Investigates Government Failures in West Bank Refugee Camps

Aziza Nofal, a Palestinian freelance journalist and an ICFJ Jim Hoge Reporting Fellow, through her fellowship, conducted a months-long investigation into the shortage of aid for refugees living in West Bank refugee camps. When Nofal was covering Israeli incursions into West Bank refugee camps for outlets like Al Jazeera, she observed a lack of support from Palestinian authorities.

ICFJ Fellow Uncovers Alleged Profiteering From Occupied Regions in Ukraine

Maria Zholobova, a journalist working at investigative outlet IStories, has long been interested in who is financially benefiting from Russian-occupied regions in Ukraine. So, for a story supported by the Jim Hoge Fellowship, Zholobova turned to customs data and export records, hoping to find something. And she did. She noticed that a company registered to a run-down building on the outskirts of a Russian town had, over the past two years, exported nearly half a million tons of coal labeled as “Russian” but produced in Ukraine’s occupied territory, primarily to Turkey.

Journalist Testifies on Atrocities Committed by Russian Paramilitaries in Central and West Africa

Philip Obaji recently testified in Washington, DC, before the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe about reporting he did as an ICFJ Jim Hoge Reporting Fellow, bringing attention to the brutal actions of Russian paramilitary forces in the Central African Republic (CAR) and the region.

New Jim Hoge Reporting Fellows to Tackle Projects in Conflict Zones

As war and turmoil continue unabated in Ukraine and Palestine, the world relies on journalists to keep attention focused on the brutal conflicts and their effect on real people.

In honor of our late board chair Jim Hoge, ICFJ has just awarded two journalists fellowships to provide vital coverage of those conflicts. The 2024 Jim Hoge Reporting Fellows are Aziza Nofal, who reports from the West Bank for Al Jazeera and other outlets, and Maria Zholobova, a Russian journalist in exile who works for the investigative outlet IStories.

'Women Who Won the War' is Creating Space for Women in the Middle East to Tell Their Own Stories

The Syrian Civil War has claimed the lives of more than 500,000 people since protests against the government during the Arab Spring ignited into conflict in 2011. Nearly 7 million Syrians have fled abroad in a mass exodus, and an equivalent number have been displaced inside the country – in total, over half of Syria’s pre-war population. The war has since faded from global attention but Syrian journalists continue to report on it today, while bearing witness to the crimes committed in what has been one of the 21st century’s deadliest conflicts.

Three Journalists Awarded Inaugural Jim Hoge Reporting Fellowships to Cover Pressing Global Issues

A reporter known for her coverage of the Syrian War, a journalist in Nigeria specializing in Russia’s involvement in West Africa, and a journalist who reports on climate and gender in Brazil are the inaugural recipients of the Jim Hoge Reporting Fellowship.