Seven journalists from five continents join the Institute as Journalist Fellows this term

Seven journalists from across the world, representing a range of news media and journalistic professions, are joining the Reuters Institute's Journalist Fellowship Programme this January. They will explore the future of journalism worldwide, bringing their invaluable insights to the programme of seminars, discussions and networking events. During their time at the institute they will work on a project relevant to their own interests, their newsroom and the wider profession. They will join a number of Journalist Fellows continuing their time with us from last term: Regine Cabato, Ronson Chan, Laida Kaoma Chongo, Zsófia Fülöp, Tanmoy Goswami, Manar Hafeth Ismail, Jussi Latvala, Olga Tokariuk and Natalia Zhdanova.

Read more about each of them, and find links to their profiles, below.

Thu Thu Aung

Correspondent, Reuters
Myanmar
Sponsor: Thomson Reuters Foundation

Thu Thu is a Pulitzer prize-winning Myanmar correspondent at Reuters. Since the military coup of February 2021, she has continued to report on Myanmar from Thailand. Throughout her career she has covered ethnic armed conflicts, drug trafficking, human rights abuses and the Rohingya genocide.

Project topic: How international and local media organisations can best navigate the post-coup media landscape in Myanmar

More on Thu Thu ’s work:

• ‘Myanmar burning: the expulsion of the Rohingya', Reuters (Pulitzer prize-winning series)
• ‘“Until her bones are broken”: Myanmar activists fight to outlaw domestic violence’, Reuters
• Thu Thu’s Twitter account

Ayen Bior

Producer, National Public Radio
South Sudan/USA
Sponsor: Google News Initiative

Ayen Deng Bior is a producer and reporter in radio, television and web. She is drawn to stories about the refugee experience and the rights of women. In her spare time, she loves to read, kayak and bird watch.

Project topic: Crafting a safety manual for journalists in South Sudan

More on Ayen’s work:

• ‘How Senegal's artists are changing the system with a mic and spray paint’, NPR
• ‘They escaped the war in Ukraine. Then they faced fresh trouble in Poland’, NPR
• Ayen’s Twitter account

Abu Sayeed Asiful Islam

Associate Editor, Dhaka Tribune
Bangladesh
Sponsor: European Climate Foundation

Asif is associate editor at the Dhaka Tribune. His work has appeared on MSNBC, CBS News, NDTV, the Times of India podcast and the Mekong Review. Asif enjoys reporting and conducting interviews and is passionate about climate journalism and foreign affairs.

Project topic: Reframing climate change discourse in South Asia

More on Asif’s work:

• ‘Ukraine to World: There is no Plan B’, Dhaka Tribune
• ‘Who do COP killers really hurt?’, Dhaka Tribune
• Asif’s Twitter account

Radheshyam Jadhav

Deputy Editor, The Hindu Businessline
India
Sponsor: European Climate Foundation

Radheshyam Jadhav is an award-winning journalist from India working for The Hindu Businessline. He holds a Ph.D. in journalism and communication. He has written extensively about gender, health, agriculture, environment, and rural and urban development issues.

Project topic: Climate change and farmer suicides

More on Radheshyam’s work:

• ‘Gone girls of rural Maharashtra’, The Hindu Businessline
• ‘No man's land: Dalit women in Maharashtra take on patriarchy, casteist forces to claim cultivation rights’, The Hindu Businessline
• Radheshyam’s Twitter account

Tarjei Leer-Salvesen

Investigative reporter, trainer and author
Norway
Sponsor: Fritt Ord Foundation

Tarjei Leer-Salvesen is an independent investigative journalist, author and trainer. Based in Norway, his background is in newspapers and documentary film research. He has published three textbooks on investigative journalistic method and journalism ethics.

Project topic: How do investigative journalists apply the right to access public information across borders?

More on Tarjei’s work:

• ‘Equinor's dangerous adventure in the USA’, NRK
• ‘The blue envelopes’, Fædrelandsvennen
• Tarjei’s Twitter account

'Fisayo Soyombo

Founder/Editor-in-Chief, Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ)
Nigeria
Sponsor: Thomson Reuters Foundation

'Fisayo Soyombo is an intrepid investigative journalist who has gone under cover on numerous occasions to expose corruption. He has been editor of a number of news and investigative outlets.

Project topic: Coordinated discrediting of journalists in Nigeria

More on ‘Fisayo’s work:

• ‘UNDERCOVER INVESTIGATION (I): Bribery, bail for sale… Lagos police station where innocent civilians are held and criminals are recycled’, TheCable
• ‘UNDERCOVER INVESTIGATION (II): Drug abuse, sodomy, bribery, pimping… The cash-and-carry operations of Ikoyi Prisons’, TheCable
• Fisayo’s Twitter account

Phillippe Watanabe

Reporter, Folha de S.Paulo
Brazil
Sponsor: Laudes Foundation

Phillippe is a Brazilian reporter writing about the environment and the climate crises at Folha de S.Paulo, one of the leading media outlets in Brazil.

Project topic: Tackling shifting baseline syndrome in newsrooms

More on Phillippe’s work:

• ‘Brazil's livestock giants buy cattle directly from illegal farms, says NGO investigation’, Folha de S. Paulo
• ‘One year after the fire, Parque do Juquery lives under constant threat from balloons’, Folha de S. Paulo
• Phillippe’s Twitter account