ISLAMABAD, Nov 5: A fellowship in the name of slain US journalist Daniel Pearl, has been established to train foreign mediapersons, says a press release issued here on Tuesday.

The fellowship, established by Alfred Friendly Press Fellowships (AFPF), and the Daniel Pearl Foundation, aimed at promoting press freedom and fostering East-West understanding, it said.

The setting up of the fellowship was announced at Washington D.C on Sunday, the release said. Underwritten by the Pearl Foundation and administered under the programme, created by Alfred Friendly, the Pulitzer-Prize-winning former managing editor of the Washington Post, the Daniel Pearl Fellowship will initially give preference to applicants from Pakistan.

To be considered for the Pearl Fellowship, journalists applying to AFPF in 2003 from Pakistan have been required to 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 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 programme.”

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 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, it said.

Successful DPF candidates will also be Alfred Friendly Press Fellows. Joining 212 AFPF alumni from 72 countries, they will have to meet the programme’s 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 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 AFPF programme, 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 the 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. The paradox overshadowing Pearl’s death was that his killers, religious extremists angry with the West, murdered a reporter who was particularly sensitive to their views and grievances and committed to explaining them to his readers.

This fellowship will focus on connecting journalists from Muslim countries with their American counterparts.

For further information, contact Susan Albrecht, executive director of the Friendly Fellowships, at (202) 737-4414 or email salbrecht@pressfellowships.org or Seth Jacobson with the Daniel Pearl Foundation at (310) 317-1966 or media@danielpearl.org.