Program News

Burns Alumna Sarah Wildman Wins Weitz Prize

Sarah Wildman (Burns 2008) won the Peter R. Weitz Prize for excellence and originality in reporting on Europe for a series she wrote for Slate. She conducted research for the series during her Burns fellowship. The $10,000 prize is awarded by the German Marshall Fund of the United States, and will be presented at an awards luncheon in July in Washington, D.C.

India’s Tribal Citizens Use New Cell Phone Network to Produce Local News

Dozens of citizen journalists in India’s chronically neglected tribal communities are producing and sharing audio news reports for the first time through an innovative cell phone system launched by a Knight International Journalism Fellow.

Members of India’s 80-million-strong Adivasi tribal community now have easy access through their mobile phones to reports on important issues such as housing evictions, police abuse and rural education.

Burns Alumni Gather for 2010 Dinner in New York

A crowd of about 100 alumni, trustees, staff and friends gathered for the annual Arthur F. Burns Fellowship alumni dinner at the Ritz Carlton in New York on February 23. They battled a fierce rainstorm to hear keynote speaker E. Gerald Corrigan, a managing director of Goldman, Sachs & Co. and chairman of the firm’s regulated bank subsidiary.

Coverage of U.S. Home Foreclosure Crisis Wins 2009 Burns Award

The 2009 German Burns Award winner looks at resistance by stressed U.S. homeowners facing eviction, while the Kennan Commentary Award winner looks at the changed meaning and interpretation of German “angst.”

Robert Zoellick Encourages Media to Shed Light on Economic Crisis

The Honorable Robert Zoellick, president of the World Bank and former trustee of the Arthur F. Burns Fellowship, recently spoke about the state of the world economy to alumni, trustees and friends of the fellowship. The Goldman Sachs Group hosted the sixth annual alumni dinner at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Washington, DC, on Feb. 19.

ICFJ Boosts Climate Change Coverage in India

When the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) sent longtime journalist Arul Louis to boost reporting on climate change in India, he knew he faced a challenge. In the media of India, one of the developing world’s biggest and fastest growing economies, the topic of climate change has rarely bubbled to the surface.

Editors' Consultation Eyes Climate Change

What help do journalists want when they cover climate change and development? And what do leaders who help shape global policies on climate change say is the media’s role?

To find out, the International Center for Journalists' Knight International Journalism Fellowships and The Energy and Resources Institute brought journalists and climate-change leaders together at an Editors' Consultation in New Delhi on Saturday, Feb.

Extensive Research Pays Off For 2008 Burns Award Winners

The 2008 Burns and Kennan Award winners focus on the hopes of the African-American civil rights movement with Barack Obama's historic election; on Germany's struggle with releasing Stasi police secrets; and on an American identity crisis displayed in its new embassy building in Berlin.

"Green City:" Indonesian Newspaper Launches Weekly Environmental Report

On March 17, 2008, Tribun Pekanbaru, a local newspaper that is part of the Persda newspaper group in Indonesia, published a photo showing used syringes floating in the drain of Ibu dan Anak (Mother and Child) Zaenab Hospital. A private hospital in Pekanbaru, capital of Riau Province in Sumatra, Ibu dan Anak Zaenab treats mothers and children. Like all but three hospitals in the province, it does not have a waste water treatment facility, nor does it have an incinerator to burn medical and hospital waste.

2007 Burns Award Winners Report on Immigration, War and Elections

Three Burns alumni won the 2007 Burns and Kennan Commentary Awards on May 15. The award-winning stories tackle: life on the Texas-Mexico border; twins’ quest to become marines in Iraq; and analysis of the U.S. Presidential elections.