Arthur F. Burns Fellowship

Washington, D.C. - Twenty journalists from leading news organizations in the U.S. and Germany such as CNN, The Wall Street Journal, Süddeutsche Zeitung, and Deutsche Welle were named as winners of the prestigious Arthur F. Burns Fellowship.

Fellows travel to the other side of the Atlantic for a nine-week stint, where they work for host newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations, and also send stories back to their home news organizations.

The program, administered by the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) and the Internationale Journalisten-Programme (IJP) in Konigstein, Germany, has attracted scores of young talent over the past 20 years. The program was designed to promote better understanding between the U.S. and Germany.

This year’s U.S. winners are:

* Amanda Bensen, features reporter, The Post-Star, Glens Falls, NY
* Allison Connolly, business reporter, The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, MD
* Curtis Gilbert, producer, Minnesota Public Radio News, St. Paul, MN
* Alison J. Hawkes, Capitol bureau chief, Calkins Media, Harrisburg, PA
* Christine Lagorio, producer, CBSNews.com, New York, NY
* Marissa Muller, assignment editor, CNN, Atlanta, GA
* Damaso Reyes, European correspondent, New York Amsterdam News, New York, NY
* Laura Santini, reporter, The Wall Street Journal, Hong Kong
* Tanya Schevitz, higher education reporter, The San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco, CA
* Emma Schwartz, senior reporter, Legal Times, Washington, DC

The German winners are:

* Philipp Abresch, reporter, NDR TV, Hamburg
* Torben Börgers, reporter, NDR TV, Hamburg
* Lara Fritzsche, editor, Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, Cologne
* Bettina Gartner, freelance business journalist, Bruneck, Italy
* Paul-Anton Krüger, editor, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Munich
* Georg Matthes, editor, Deutsche Welle DW TV, Berlin
* Sabine Muscat, editor, Financial Times Deutschland, Berlin
* Peter Onneken, writer, Hessischer Rundfunk TV, Frankfurt
* Christian Rüttger, senior foreign news sub-editor, Reuters, Berlin
* Peter Wagner, reporter, Süddeutsche Zeitung (jetzt.de), Marzling

¨At a time when newsrooms in the U.S. are cutting back on their overseas bureaus, Burns Fellows play a crucial role in providing vital international news,” says ICFJ President Joyce Barnathan. “They also gain a global perspective that can help shape coverage once they return home.”

The Burns program is named for the late U.S. ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany. This nine-week program takes place in August and September each year.

“[The Burns Fellowship] forced me way out of my comfort zone both personally and professionally and helped me look at the world much more broadly than I ever have before,” said 2006 Burns Fellow Elisa Ung of the Philadelphia Inquirer.