Felisa Neuringer Klubes Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies Phone: 202.663.5626
Sonja Matanovic International Reporting Project Phone: 202.663.7726
Washington, DC -- The International Reporting Project (IRP) at The Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) announced today that it has received a five-year, $1.6 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to provide fellowships to U.S. editors to improve the news media’s coverage of global health and development issues.
The grant from the Seattle-based foundation will be used to support fellowships for 24 senior U.S. journalists per year in the IRP's Gatekeeper Editors Program, which conducts two in-depth reporting trips overseas to learn more about key international topics.
"We're delighted that the Gates Foundation supports our efforts to bring compelling international health and development stories to the attention of the public," said John Schidlovsky, founding director of the Washington-based IRP.
Each year, on two different occasions, the IRP selects 12 senior U.S. editors or producers at leading news organization to travel for up to two weeks on an intensive fact-finding trip to an important country or region, usually in the developing world. The editors interview heads of state and a wide cross-section of leaders in various fields.
Since 2000, the IRP has taken Gatekeepers to Indonesia, Brazil, South Africa, Lebanon and Syria, India, Egypt and Nigeria. A trip to the Korean peninsula is planned for November 2007.
"From its beginning, the IRP Gatekeepers program has examined critical issues of health, education, environment and rural development," Schidlovsky said. "Now, with the Gates Foundation’s support, we will intensify our focus on global health and development."
The IRP was created in 1998 with the goal of encouraging U.S. journalists to cover global stories that are neglected or under-reported in the media. In addition to its Gatekeeper Editors Program, the IRP also offers individual fellowships to U.S. journalists to study at SAIS and report overseas. More than 250 journalists have received fellowships since the program began a decade ago.
Additional support for the IRP is provided by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Stanley Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Philip L. Graham Fund, the New York Times Company Foundation and others.
The Gates Foundation grant brings total commitments to the Johns Hopkins Knowledge for the World campaign to more than $2.8 billion. Priorities of the campaign, which benefits divisions of The Johns Hopkins University and The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System, include strengthening endowment for student aid and faculty support; advancing research, academic and clinical initiatives; and building and upgrading facilities on all campuses. The campaign began in July 2000.
The Gatekeepers Editors Program is based at SAIS, one of the country's leading graduate schools devoted to the study of international relations. Located in downtown Washington, the school enrolls more than 450 full-time graduate students and mid-career professionals and has trained more than 13,000 alumni in all aspects of international affairs.