Grant Funds New Nieman Fellowships

A $1.19-million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has created a new fellowship program in global health reporting at Harvard.

“We hope that it will educate a group of journalists to be able to report authoritatively and consistently on issues of global health, and that, as a consequence of their work, readers, viewers, and listeners will become better informed about the critical nature of disease,” said Nieman Foundation Curator Robert H. Giles.

Starting in the 2006-2007 academic year, three journalists will be chosen annually as Nieman Global Health Fellows. The three fellows—representing the U.S., Europe, and the developing world—will join the other participants of the Nieman Fellow Program, which allows both U.S. and international journalists to study at Harvard for a year, according to Jay A. Winsten, associate dean and Stanton director of the Center of Health Communication at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH).

In addition to the activities they will pursue with the other Nieman Fellows, the Global Health Fellows will study at HSPH and throughout the University. At the end of their academic year, they will spend four months applying their learning by doing fieldwork in developing countries.

“You can think of it as ‘Nieman-Plus,’” Winsten wrote in an e-mail.

Under the terms of the Gates Foundation grant, the Nieman Foundation will also increase the number of U.S. fellows in its general fellowship program from 12 to 13 for the next three years. The number of international fellows will remain at 12, including the two international Global Health Fellows.

According to a press release from HSPH, the three new journalists will be chosen by the Nieman curator, a representative from the School of Public Health, and a journalist.

The fellowships arose from a partnership between the Nieman Foundation and HSPH.

According to Giles, the idea for a global health fellowship had been in the works for some time. The Gates Foundation heard about the idea and, about 18 months ago, approached Giles with the possibility of funding it.

Winsten wrote that further development of global health reporting is particularly appropriate at this time due to increasing global attention on health issues.

“The emergence of worldwide health threats such as bird flu has driven home the point that this is a small world indeed, and what happens in Africa and Asia can affect us all,” wrote Winsten.

“Journalists have a very important role to play in informing publics about diseases, programs for prevention, and treatment,” added Giles.

Giles also pointed to cultural obstacles that hinder the dissemination of information. He said that the fellowships try to overcome those challenges.

After the three-year period covered by the grants, the fellowship will be evaluated, and, if deemed successful, may be considered for continued funding by the Gates Foundation, according to Giles.

Winsten wrote that he hopes the program continues.

“In ten years, we will have created a cadre of 30 journalists who are highly trained in global health. Their work can have a tremendous impact over time in informing policy makers and the general public alike,” he wrote. “Indeed, through their reporting, the Nieman Fellows in Global Health can help to save many lives in the most impoverished nations on the planet.”