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Program Overview for Potential Participants
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ABOUT THE DANIEL PEARL FELLOWSHIP
In 2002, the Alfred Friendly Press Fellowships (AFPF) and the Daniel Pearl Foundation established a fellowship to honor Daniel Pearl, the American journalist murdered in Pakistan in February 2002. Journalists from the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia are eligible to apply.
All Friendly Fellowships, including the Daniel Pearl Fellowships, are awarded to young and mid-career print journalists from developing world countries with an emerging free press. These journalists, usually between the ages of 25 and 35, are assigned to work as general assignment reporters in an American news organization. Reporting and writing give them a practical introduction to the professional and ethical standards of the U.S. print media. Unique among the many training programs available to journalists, AFPF is the only one to offer a non-academic, long-term, hands-on experience in a single newsroom.
Daniel Pearl Fellowship Established To Train Foreign Journalists Under Auspices of Alfred Friendly Press Fellowships Program WASHINGTON, D.C., November 3, 2002 - The Alfred Friendly Press Fellowships (AFPF), and the Daniel Pearl Foundation, announced today that they have established a new fellowship in the name of Daniel Pearl aimed at promoting press freedom and fostering East-West understanding. Underwritten by the Daniel Pearl Foundation and administered under the program created by Alfred Friendly, the Pulitzer-Prize-winning former managing editor of the Washington Post, the Daniel Pearl Fellowship will initially give strong preference to applicants from Pakistan. The Wall Street Journal has agreed to host the first Daniel Pearl Fellow (DPF) in its Washington, DC Bureau where Daniel Pearl worked as a reporter from 1993 until 1996. "This is an important day for the Foundation and for Danny's legacy" said Judea Pearl, president of the Daniel Pearl Foundation formed this year and father of the slain Wall Street Journal bureau chief. "This fellowship is an example of what Danny stood for, bridging cultures and fostering journalistic excellence. I believe he would be very proud of this program." The Alfred Friendly Press Fellowships, set up in 1983 to train foreign journalists in US newsrooms, assists promising young and mid-career journalists from developing-world countries where press freedom is newly established or at least in prospect by immersing them in the day-to-day practices of the American press. Successful DPF candidates will also be Alfred Friendly Press Fellows. Joining 214 AFPF alumni from 72 countries, they will have to meet the program's traditional criteria, among which are fluent English, at least three years of news-gathering experience and employment at a non-governmental publication in their own countries. In addition, the Daniel Pearl Fellowship will focus on journalists who exemplify the spirit and professionalism of its namesake, a foreign correspondent noted for his open-minded coverage of the Muslim world and gift for portraying the human side of complex international problems. The 19-year-old AFPF program, among whose graduates are top editors in Colombia, Croatia, Ghana, Hungary, Indonesia, Malawi, Malaysia, Nepal, Nigeria, the Philippines, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Uganda and Zimbabwe, is unique in US journalism education in the length of stay and the hands-on training it provides. Successful AFPF applicants receive a six-month, in-depth, practical introduction to US print media, working as staff reporters in American newsrooms in major (or mid-size) cities. To be considered for the Daniel Pearl Fellowship, journalists applying to AFPF in 2003 from Pakistan must submit a two-page statement explaining how their career goals match the mission and spirit of Daniel Pearl as a journalist and a human being. This essay is in addition to all other AFPF application materials. The paradox overshadowing Pearl's death was that his killers, Islamic militants angry with the West, murdered a reporter who was particularly sensitive to their views and grievances and committed to explaining them to his readers. Daniel Pearl wrote objectively and often about the hardships and aspirations of people in Islamic countries, most notably Dubai, Iran, Kosovo, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Yemen. This fellowship will focus on connecting journalists from Muslim countries with their American counterparts. The Daniel Pearl Foundation, founded by his family is continuing his life mission to encourage dialogue among people of different cultures, to reduce cultural and religious hatred and create a platform for responsible and creative journalism. As a bridge connecting American and foreign journalists in shared professional ventures, the Friendly Fellowships, strengthened by the Daniel Pearl Fellowship, will advance that urgent and demanding mission. More information on Daniel Pearl is available at http://www.danielpearl.org and http://www.saja.org. A selection of his writings, entitled "At Home in the World", was published this year by Simon and Schuster.PAKISTANI JOURNALIST AWARDED INAUGURAL DANIEL PEARL FELLOWSHIP WASHINGTON, D.C., May 9, 2003 - Fasih Ahmed, an editor for the Lahore-based Friday Times and Daily Times, has been awarded the inaugural Daniel Pearl Fellowship. Ahmed will be a member of The Wall Street Journal’s Washington, DC bureau from June through November.
This special fellowship, underwritten by the Daniel Pearl Foundation and administered by the program created by Alfred Friendly — a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and former managing editor of The Washington Post — honors the life and work of journalist Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal South Asia bureau chief who was kidnapped and murdered in Pakistan last year.
“For those of us who worked with Danny and want to honor his memory, it's hard to imagine anything more appropriate than hosting a journalist from abroad in his name,” said Wall Street Journal Washington Bureau Chief Jerry Seib. “Danny taught us all how to appreciate the way journalism can knock down barriers and bring understanding, and spreading those ideals in his name is a mission we all can embrace. Fasih Ahmed seems to share that vision, and is a highly capable journalist who can carry it forward.”
Fasih Ahmed, 25, is the assistant news editor at The Friday Times and copy editor at the Daily Times. He has been with The Friday Times since 1995 and with the Daily Times since its inception last year. Ahmed said. “I am honored to have been selected as the first Daniel Pearl Fellow and I hope that through my work I shall do his memory proud.”
On June 10, Fasih Ahmed and nine other journalists will arrive in Washington DC to begin their training as the 20th class of Alfred Friendly Fellows. Like their 214 predecessors, including six from Pakistan, these journalists will learn firsthand the practical realities of journalism in this country and the role it plays in our society. The Fellows are exposed to new and different journalistic ideas and apply what they learn to the operations of their own news organizations once they return home. The experience and training have had a profound impact on our Fellows’ professional and personal lives, the publications for which they work, and their readers.
Najam Sethi, editor of The Friday Times and Daily Times said, “Fasih’s youth, exuberance, talent and new-found direction and knowledge after a stint at the Wall Street Journal will be invaluable in helping us shoulder the burden of building bridges between the West and the Islamic world.”
The Daniel Pearl Foundation was formed in his memory by his family and friends last year. Ruth Pearl, Danny’s mother and the foundation’s secretary and financial officer said, “This fellowship represents a continuation of Danny's lifelong work of bridging cultures through journalism. We welcome Fasih as our first Fellow and we hope to expand the program in the coming year.”
The Alfred Friendly Fellowships, strengthened by the Daniel Pearl Fellowship, will advance that urgent and demanding mission. AFPF’s website is http://www.pressfellowships.org/. More information on Daniel Pearl is available at http://www.danielpearl.org/ and http://www.saja.org/.
(To schedule an interview with Fasih Ahmed, any of the incoming Fellows or with Fellows in 72 countries from previous years, please contact Susan Albrecht, director of the AFPF program, at 202-429-3740 or salbrecht(at)pressfellowships.org.)
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