• What it means to be a Fellow
  • Frequently Asked Questions by Fellows
  • Daniel Pearl Fellowship Information
  • Geographic Distribution of Fellows
  • Fellow Essays
  • 2009 Fellows' Bios
  • 2008 Fellows' Bios
  • 2007 Fellows' Bios
  • 2006 Fellows' Bios
  • 2005 Fellows' Bios

• What it means to be a Host
  • Frequently Asked Questions by Hosts
  • List of Current and Former Host Papers
  • Links to Current Host Papers

• Applications:

  • AFPF and DPF Applications

Winning a Fellowship is difficult. For every one who is selected, roughly 16 fail to qualify. Among those who have succeeded are Fellows who have become top editors and newsroom managers, founders of news outlets and public relation firms, section heads, bureau chiefs, chief or foreign correspondents, and university professors. Many have received Fulbright, Neiman, Reuters and Yale World Fellowships as well as Chevening Scholarships, and others have received awards, prizes, overseas assignments and/or found jobs outside of their home country. Among our alumni are top editors in Bangladesh, Botswana, Czech Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Malaysia, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Nigeria, Philippines, Romania, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Fellows arrive in Missouri for a three-week group orientation before they start as staff reporters, one per host, in newsrooms across the United States. Usually assigned to the city desk to cover local news and features, Fellows may rotate among other sections—arts, business, editorial features, online, etc. With the support and commitment of our host publications, Fellows can enter fully into daily newsroom activities. Guided by talented host reporters and editors, they are able to learn firsthand the practical realities and influential role of journalism in this country.

Program History

In the conviction that a strong free press is essential to the healthy functioning of a democracy, the late Alfred Friendly, a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter and former managing editor of The Washington Post, conceived a fellowship program that would both impart American journalistic traditions and respond to worldwide interest in the dissemination of fair and accurate news. Of the many training programs available to journalists, the Alfred Friendly Press Fellowships is the only one to offer a non-academic, long-term, hands-on experience in a single newsroom. It was Alfred Friendly’s belief that working side by side with reporters and editors is the best way to absorb the practical realities of journalism in this country and the instrumental role it plays in our society.

Alfred Friendly set the following three primary objectives for the fellowship program:

• Enable Fellows to gain a practical understanding of the function and significance of the free press in American society.


• Provide Fellows with experience in reporting, writing, and editing that will enhance future professional performance.


• Foster continuing ties between free press institutions and journalists in the United States and their counterparts in other countries.

To learn more about the lives of the program's founders, please click on the following links to read the obituaries of Alfred Friendly and Mrs. Jean Friendly.

Criteria of Eligibility

Alfred Friendly established the following minimum criteria for Fellows:

• An excellent command of both written and spoken English as all activities are conducted in English;


• At least three years of professional experience as a journalist in the print media;


• Current employment as a journalist with an independent print media organization in the country of citizenship;


• Early to mid-career status;


• A demonstrated personal commitment to a career in journalism in the home country.

A typical AFPF Fellow is 29 years old, has six years of print journalism experience and has spent little or no time in the United States. Due to requirements of reporting in the United States, preference is given to applicants who are proficient in using computers and driving automobiles.

Geographic Distribution of Past Fellows

With 258 AFPF Alumni in 78 countries worldwide, AFPF has an extensive network. AFPF is willing to facilitate contact between former Fellows and applicants as well as with American editors and reporters who will be traveling overseas. For a list of the countries from which AFPF Fellows have come, click here. Please contact us if you are interested in getting in touch with our Fellows.

Selection and Hosts

Following the deadline for completed applications, the AFPF Advisory Committee evaluates qualified candidates. Alfred Friendly’s family remains active in this selection process as members of the Advisory Committee, including three of his five children: Jonathan Friendly, Nicholas Friendly and Lucinda F. Murphy. Other members of the committee include editors, prominent individuals from the journalism community and the three former directors* of the program. They are: Kenneth F. Bunting, Milton Coleman, Craig Matsuda, David Nalle*, Marianne Scott, John M. Sirek*, Ellen Soeteber, Randall D. Smith, Susan Talalay*, Howard A. Tyner and Peter S. Young.

After selection is completed, each Fellow is placed at a carefully chosen U.S. newspaper based on the needs and desires of the host newsrooms. Since the first Alfred Friendly Fellows arrived in 1984, 53 newsrooms have hosted Fellows. AFPF has established strong, long-term relationships with several of the largest U.S. daily newspapers. The following host newspapers have hosted ten years or more—The Kansas City Star, Philadelphia Inquirer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Rocky Mountain News and The Washington Post. Without the dedication of our hosts, AFPF could not exist. [Click here for a list of our hosts.]

Schedule

Fellows arrive in the United States for an orientation seminar to prepare them — both personally and professionally — for the challenges of living and working in a different country. A major component of the seminar is a refresher course in American journalism. Beginning in 2009, the journalism course will be held in Columbia, Missouri at the prestigious University if Missouri School of Journalism. Fellows leave the classroom better prepared for their fellowship assignments. Addressing the Fellows’ personal adaptation to the United States is Dr. Gary Weaver, professor at The American University’s School of International Service. Dr. Weaver, a cross-cultural adaptation specialist who has worked with Alfred Friendly Fellows since 1984, discusses what Fellows typically experience during their time in the United States and suggests strategies to handle the various phases of culture shock most Fellows experience. The remainder of the three weeks is spent on professional, tourist and social activities in and around Columbia and Kansas City.

For the last weekend of the orientation seminar, AFPF invites host newspaper representatives to come to Kansas City so that, as mentors, they can meet the Fellows, discuss plans that the host newsrooms have for them and provide information on logistical concerns such as health insurance, banking, housing, etc. The Fellow and host mentor travel together at the end of the weekend to begin the Fellow’s five-month assignment.

A one week Midterm Seminar is held at the Poynter Institute in Florida where four days are dedicated to a class created exclusively for the Friendly Fellows which focuses on writing, editing, ethics, multimedia, managing people in a newsroom, leadership and training their peers. In addition to the seminars at Poynter, Fellows meet with Dr. Weaver for a cross-cultural adaptation seminar. For Fellows it is a time to reflect, learn and think ahead to the rest of their program and to when they return home.

A final seminar in Washington reunites the Fellows so that they may compare and evaluate their experiences and discuss their impressions of the American media. The mentors are invited to Washington at the end of the final seminar to meet with AFPF staff to discuss the program and bid farewell to the Fellows who return to their home countries following the final seminar.

Financing

To fund the program, Alfred Friendly created and endowed the Alfred Friendly Foundation in 1983. The majority of AFPF’s support comes from his foundation. Further support comes from contributions by host and sending publications, foundations, businesses and individuals. AFPF receives neither U.S. government funding nor direction.

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