Ohio University announces 2023 Kiplinger Fellows

Nineteen journalists from 12 countries will make up the 50th anniversary class of the Kiplinger Fellowship when it convenes March 19-24 at Ohio University.

The journalists represent some of the most respected news outlets in print, online, television and wire services in their regions.

The journalists, who primarily cover politics, will take part in this year’s critical issue theme: Covering Political Discourse and Saving Democracy. 

“Each year we want to explore a global issue that has reached a critical stage, examine the news coverage and determine how we can improve our journalism around that issue,” Kiplinger Executive Director Kevin Z. Smith said. “Last year we looked into improving climate change reporting with 20 environmental journalists on campus. This year we step into the highly-charged world of politics.”

Smith said the week’s program will examine reporting of political campaigns as well as issues like extremism and violence, culture wars, election finances, social media influence, polling, social justice influence and free speech.

“Many of these issues cut across borders, cultures and play an intricate part in politics and governance. Most of these fellows are covering political upheaval in their countries,” Smith said. “The day I told the Peruvian journalist he had been accepted to the fellowship, he was busy covering the story of the country’s president being ousted, but not before the leader tried to dissolve the entire congress and judiciary. That’s where we are.” 

Six U.S. journalists from Ohio, Kentucky, New York, Texas and Washington, D.C. will join journalists from Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Canada, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nepal, Pakistan, Peru, Spain, Ukraine and Venezuela.

The 2023 Kiplinger Fellows are:

U.S./Canada

• Brandon Bounds, digital content producer, WBNS-TV; Columbus, Ohio
• Morgan Trau, statehouse reporter, WEWS-TV News 5; Cleveland, Ohio
• Georgiaree Godfrey, anchor, FOX56; Lexington, Kentucky
• Kira Lerner, democracy editor, Guardian U.S.; Washington, D.C.
• Zach Hirsch, freelance reporter, producer; Brooklyn, New York
• Andrew Schneider, politics and government reporter, Houston Public Media, Texas
• Lisa MacGregor, morning news anchor, reporter, Global News TV; Edmonton, Canada
• Marsha McLeod, reporter, Globe and Mail; Ottawa, Canada
• Zi-Ann Lum, reporter, Politico; Ottawa, Canada

International

• Jeffery Abbott, freelance journalist; Guatemala City, Guatemala
• Saul Hernandez Alfaro, co-founder, executive director, FOCOS-TV;  San Salvador, El Salvador
• Binita Dahal, broadcast journalist, BBC Nepali Services; Kathmandu, Nepal
• Maria Grynevych, co-owner, editor-in-chief, Socportal Media Agency; Kyiv, Ukraine
• Santiago Gomez, anchor, political commentator, Latina Noticias; Lima, Peru
• Md. Shah Ali Joy, senior reporter, NEWS24; Dhaka, Bangladesh 
• Rayli Lujan, senior reporter, Bloomberg Linea; Caracas, Venezuela
• Kunwar Khuldune Shahid, correspondent, The Diplomat; Lahore, Pakistan
• Natalia Segura, political reporter, Agència Catalana de Notícies (ACN), Barcelona, Spain
• Rosen Tsvetkov, journalist, bTV Media; Sofia, Bulgaria