AU-Pulitzer Fellowship Winners

WASHINGTON, DC, 27 April 2017 — We are proud to announce that Erin McGoff (L) and Natalie Hutchison (R) are this year’s winners of the AU-Pulitzer Center International Reporting Fellowships.

Erin will return to Laos, where she is producing her documentary, “This Little Land of Mines,” about explosives dropped by U.S. forces during the Vietnam War and that continue to wreak havoc on that tiny Asian country. Her fellowship is supported by American University’s School of Communication (SOC).

Natalie will journey to Chile to report on religion and climate change. Her fellowship is supported by American University’s Center for Latin American and Latino Studies (CLALS).

With Erin and Natalie are Dean Jeffrey Rutenbeck (L) and CLALS Director Eric Hershberg.

American University and the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting are proud to announce these outstanding students as winners of this year’s fellowships. Each award is worth $2,500.00. Perhaps more importantly, these awards are bridges between the university and the professional world to which these students aspire to belong.

(Photos by Bill Gentile)

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“Freelancers,” Technology Revolution

MEXICO CITY, 8 March 2017 — Associated Press (AP) video journalist Gerardo Carrillo edits material he shot of a women’s march in the Mexican capital. I spent time with Gerardo while filming a pilot for the series, “Freelancers,” about the young, tech-savvy freelance foreign correspondents stepping into the void left by mainstream media retreating from overseas news coverage. Gerardo and I worked together in Central America during the 1980s. He founded the AP video unit in Mexico City, and still works there.

Journalists like Gerardo often provide critical support to freelancers like myself. I began my own career in Mexico in 1977 but have not worked there in many years. He’s using a laptop computer to edit his material before transmitting to the AP bureau in Washington, DC. This technology is part of what makes freelancing so viable today. The cost of global communication has plummeted since the days that Gerardo and I worked in Nicaragua and El Salvador. It’s truly a technology revolution. I’ve entered the post-production stage of the “Freelancers” project, and will be posting images and text as I move along. Please feel free to contact me with questions.

American University graduate student Matt Cipollone and I spent Spring Break shooting and producing the film. In addition to Gerardo, we spent time with a freelance foreign correspondent working with The New York Times and Time magazine; with a freelancer who works with USA Today and The Guardian; with a freelance documentary filmmaker; and with three still photographers.

This project is supported by American University’s School  of Communication, where I work in Washington, DC. I decided to produce the pilot for “Freelancers” in Mexico mostly because that’s where I landed as a freelancer right after graduate school at Ohio University, but also because it’s close to home and logistics would be less costly than some of the other countries and regions where I want to take this project. More on that later.

(Photo by Matt Cipollone)

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About “Backpack en Español”

WASHINGTON, DC, 21 April 2017 — Here’s a nice little story about the “Backpack Documentary en Español” class that I launched in Fall 2016 at American University’s School of Communication. It was written by one of my students.

To read it, click HERE.

 

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Journalists in Mexico killed in record numbers – along with freedom of speech

 

 

Reuters/ Fox News/ Google images

Tuesday, April 4th, 2017- ” Recent murders have led to the closure of a prominent Mexican newspaper. Freelance journalist Paul Imison writes about the present dangers that Mexican journalists face.”

Read full story here: “http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/04/04/journalists-in-mexico-killed-in-record-numbers-along-with-freedom-speech.html”

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International Journalist Laura Ling talks about her experiences

 

Madison Ogletree/ The Auburn Plainsman/ Google Images

Wednesday, April 5th, 2017: ” International journalist Laura Ling spoke to Auburn University last Monday about her captivity in North Korea, her love for traveling, and the need for investigating human rights issues.”

Read the full story here: http://www.theplainsman.com/article/2017/04/laura-ling-with-the-auburn-plainsman

 

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Main Threat to Mexican Journalists Comes from Officials.

 

article19.org/google images

Wednesday, April 5th, 2017: ” Freedom of press watchdog Article 19 reports that officials accounted for 53% of the attacks against Mexican journalists in 2016.  Article 19 believes that Mexican officials pose,” the biggest threat to freedom of expression in Mexico.”

 

Read the full article here: http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=2434259&CategoryId=14091

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Mexican Newspaper Closes Out of Fear for Journalists’ Safety.

 

El Norte/ Reuters

Thursday, April 6th, 2017: ” With the murder of Mexican journalist Miroslava Breach Velducea, the Mexican newspaper EL Norte has decided to close its doors. El Norte’s director Oscar Cantu Murguia told VOA that Velducea’s murder, “forced me to reflect that everything that we have done, what we have shown and published in 27 years, has not made any progress.”

Read the full article here: https://www.voanews.com/a/mexican-newspaper-closes-out-of-fear-for-journalists-safety-/3800244.html

 

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