Program News

New School Brings Global Perspective to India's Media Education: World Media Academy to Prepare Students for TV, Print and Digital Reporting

India is one of the world's most dynamic economies, and media are an important part of its rapidly changing scene. Hundreds of new television stations are being licensed, magazines abound and newspaper circulation still posts healthy gains.

Peruvian Network Provides Its First Online Regional News Coverage during Presidential Election

Many voters across Peru were able for the first time to see local coverage of the hotly-contested June 5, 2011, presidential runoff by watching reports online and on the air, thanks to a year-long project by Knight International Journalism Fellow Hena Cuevas.

In five provincial areas of Peru, TV stations that belong to the Red TV network produced Election Day stories and uploaded them to YouTube.

Food Arrives for Hungry Children After Citizen Journalist Files Report On Indian Cell Phone Network

When government food deliveries provided for malnourished children in rural India suddenly stopped around the first of the year, Savita Rath and other indigenous workers who care for the children did the best they could to provide meals.

But with food supplies dwindling, Savita also picked up a cell phone and filed a report through CGNet Swara, a mobile news network created by Knight International Fellow Shubhranshu Choudhary.

Mobile News Service Breaks Story Alleging Police Crackdown in India

Himanshu Kumar runs a non-governmental organization in Chhattisgarh district, where Knight International Fellow Shubhranshu Choudhary has created a mobile phone news network called CGnet Swara. When Kumar heard from colleagues who described a brutal police attack on several villages, he filed a report using his cell phone. He alleged the police had killed two people and raped five women.

Burns Chairman Given Commander's Cross

Frank Loy, chairman of the Arthur Burns Fellowships and former Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs, recently won the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. The award was presented by German President Christian Wulff on Nov. 2, 2010, at the German Ambassador’s residence in Washington, DC. The Order of Merit is awarded to Germans as well as foreigners for achievements in the political, economic, social or intellectual realm and for outstanding services to the nation in the field of social, charitable or philanthropic work.

Knight Fellow Creates the First TV News Agency for Bangladeshi Women

The country’s first television news agency run by women launched in Dhaka this week. Established with the assistance of Knight International Journalism Fellow Kawser Mahmud, the Television News Agency (TVNA) not only offers a valuable new outlet for independent news, but also gives hands-on training for aspiring young women journalists.

The agency is a joint project of Knight International and the Bangladesh Center for Development, Journalism and Communication (BCDJC).

Burns Alumnus Covers Stories from Across the Globe

CNN correspondent Frederik Pleitgen (Burns 2005) covered breaking stories around the globe this year. Pleitgen conducted an interview with Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi just days after she was released from house arrest.

Knight International Fellow Wins Another Tech Award For "Voice of Chhattisgarh" Project

A project developed by Knight International Journalism Fellow Shubhranshu Choudhary has won a technology award in India that recognizes unique initiatives to improve information sharing and citizen services through social media and Web 2.0 developments.

The 2010 India eGov 2.0 Award for Social Media Useage was presented Oct. 28 to Choudhary for his CGNet Swara , or “Voice of Chhattisgarh” project. “Voice of Chhatisgarh” enables trained citizen journalists in the remote Chhattisgarh region of India to produce news reports that local villagers listen to on their cell phones.

Citizen Journalists in Tribal India Use Cell Phones to Send and Receive News

In a remote region of central India, a citizen journalist reached for a cell phone recently, and with the push of a few buttons filed a report to a mobile phone news service developed by Knight International Journalism Fellow Shubhranshu Choudhary. The story was about school workers going unpaid for more than a year, and included contact information for the education secretary.

Once it was confirmed and approved by professionals, the story was made available publicly. Subscribers to the news service got a prompt on their own cell phones that a new story had been posted.

Sikorski Mourns the Decline of Foreign Reporting in Berlin Dinner Speech

More than 150 Burns alumni, board members and guests gathered in Berlin on an unseasonably chilly June evening to hear from two Central European foreign ministers on topics as varied as transatlantic relations and the future of foreign correspondents.