John S. Knight Fellowships for Professional Journalists

U.S. Knight Journalism Fellows announced for 2008-09

Twelve U.S. journalists have been awarded John S. Knight Fellowships to study at Stanford during the 2008-09 academic year


During their stay at Stanford, the Knight Fellows will pursue independent courses of study and participate in special seminars. The 2008-09 program marks the 43rd year that Stanford has offered fellowships for professional journalists.

The 12 U.S. Fellows will join nine from other countries who were announced in March. Financial support for the U.S. fellows comes primarily from an endowment provided by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Financial support for the International Fellows comes from sources that include the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Lyle and Corrine Nelson International Journalism Fund, and Yahoo! Inc.

Following are the 2008-09 U.S. Fellows and their principal areas of study:

Christopher Allbritton, freelance journalist, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; foreign news and new media: bringing the outside world online

Stephanie Banchero, education reporter, Chicago Tribune; preparing teachers to work in urban classrooms and the implications for closing the student achievement gap

Diane Cardwell, City Hall bureau chief, New York Times; how cities in the U.S. and abroad can meet the challenges of growth in a rapidly changing world

Babak Dehghanpisheh, Baghdad bureau chief, Newsweek; the war of ideas and information between the United States and Islamic radicals

Jeff Elder, columnist, Charlotte (N.C.) Observer; the impact of mobile Internet devices on news dissemination, reporting and citizen reporting

Andrew Haeg, senior producer and analyst, American Public Media, St. Paul, Minn.; leading change and innovation in journalism

Burt Herman, Korea chief of bureau, Associated Press, Seoul, Korea; foreign correspondence in the digital age

Lee Hockstader, editorial board, Washington Post; comparative immigration policy in the United States and western Europe

Michael Rezendes, investigative reporter, Boston Globe; the threat of secrecy in a democratic society

Antonio Ruiz-Camacho, managing editor, Rumbo newspapers, Houston; new trends in immigration: how Spanish-language publications in the U.S. are addressing readers' cultural crossroads

Geri Smith, Mexico bureau chief and chief Latin American correspondent, BusinessWeek, Mexico City; immigration, trade integration and the quest for international competitiveness in the Americas

Janine Zacharia, diplomatic correspondent, Bloomberg News, Washington; changing how rulers rule: what went wrong with the freedom agenda and lessons for the future

The program received 88 applications for the U.S. fellowships and 166 applications for the International fellowships.

The U.S. fellows were chosen by the Knight Fellowships Program Committee: James Bettinger, director, Knight Fellowships; Eavan Boland, Stanford professor of English and director of the Creative Writing Program; Theodore Glasser, Stanford professor of communication; Ardith Hilliard, executive editor, The Morning Call (Allentown, Penn.); James Mallory, senior managing editor, Atlanta Journal-Constitution; Abbas Milani, Stanford visiting professor of political science and director of the Iranian Studies Program; Margaret A. Neale, Stanford professor, Graduate School of Business; Cathy Panagoulias, assistant managing editor, Wall Street Journal, and Rita Williams, reporter, KTVU-TV, Oakland.

The 2008-09 International Knight Fellows who were announced earlier are:

Federica Bianchi, editor and reporter, L'Espresso, Rome, Italy; international relations, focusing on the effect of China's rise on U.S. ties with developing nations.

Dionne Bunsha, senior assistant editor, Frontline Magazine, Mumbai, India; the impact of globalization on India's environment, and the potential for sustainable growth.

Chanda Chisala, president and editor, Zambia Online, Lusaka, Zambia; the impact of the Internet on the future of African journalism, and the philosophy of human rights.

Pedro Doria, technology columnist and writer, O Estado de São Paulo, Brazil (Knight Latin American Fellow); democracy and its pressures around the world.

Abebe Gellaw, editor-in-chief, Addis Voice/Addisvoice.com (London), Ethiopia (Yahoo! International Fellow); creating a vibrant and sustainable media organization.

Joel Gutiérrez-González, news director, Televicentro de Nicaragua/Canal 2, Managua, Nicaragua (Knight Latin American Fellow); lessons of Ireland and similar emerging countries for Latin American developing nations.

Natalia Koulinka, news editor, Radio Station Unistar 99.5, Minsk, Belarus (Lyle and Corrine Nelson International Fellow); news journalism and models of broadcasting by non-governmental radio in a post-Soviet regime.

Watson Meng, chief editor and manager, Boxun News (Durham, N.C.), China; the impact of online citizen journalism in China and beyond.

Isra' al Rubei'i, reporter, National Public Radio, Baghdad; freedom of the press in post-conflict societies and the development of media in emerging democracies.