10 American journalists headed to Europe for two-week RIAS fellowship
August 24, 2022
10 American journalists headed to Europe for two-week RIAS fellowship
A group of 10 American journalists from across the United States will take part in the September 4-17 RIAS Berlin Commission fellowship. The mid-career American journalists will spend the two weeks in four cities — Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne and Brussels — and learn more about journalism, politics, security and cultural issues in Germany and the European Union during the fast-faced fellowship.
In Berlin they will meet leading German journalists, American correspondents working in Germany, news organization managers, diplomats, politicians, political activists, artists, musicians as well as refugees and immigrants from Ukraine and Palestine. In Hamburg, the Americans will meet diplomats, journalists and learn more about the city’s famous harbor and Reeperbahn district where the Beatles got their start in the early 1960s. In Cologne, the Americans will meet German broadcast journalists in the country’s most important TV capital city and in Brussels they will meet NATO officials, European Union officials as well as American correspondents working in the EU capital city.
The RIAS Berlin Commission was created in 1992 to keep alive the spirit of the legendary Cold War-era broadcasting company known as “Radio in American Sector” that beamed news, information and music into Communist East Germany as well as to listeners in West Berlin. From 1988 to 1992 RIAS was also a popular TV station. After RIAS went off the air in 1992, the United States and German governments created a binational organization called RIAS Berlin Commission to promote exchanges in broadcast journalism between the two countries.
Here is a list of the participants in the September fellowship:
Ayan Mittra, The Texas Tribune, Austin, Texas
Ayan Mittra is senior managing editor at The Texas Tribune, where he has worked for 10 years. He helps oversee the Tribune’s enterprise coverage and many Tribune projects. He oversees the newsroom’s expansion into various parts of the state. He is a leader in the newsroom’s collaborations with business colleagues and media partners. Before joining the Tribune, Mittra worked more than 10 years at The Dallas Morning News.
Anjuli Sastry Krbechek, NPR, Los Angeles
Anjuli Sastry Krbechek is an award-winning podcast and radio producer. She is a senior producer at LAist Studios, the podcasting arm of NPR member station KPCC in Los Angeles, California. She is the creator, producer and host behind Where We Come From, an audio and video series telling stories by and for immigrant communities of color, which she created while on a Nieman Journalism Foundation Fellowship through Harvard University.
.
Brittany Silverstein, ABC7, Los Angeles
Brittany Silverstein is an Emmy award-winning journalist based in California. She works as a producer at ABC7 Los Angeles and has more than a decade of experience working in local TV newsrooms across the United States. Silverstein hopes to gain a broader perspective on Germany and Europe on the RIAS Berlin Commission program so she can bring that knowledge back to her newsroom.
Deon Osborne, The Black Wall Street Times, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Deon Osborne is managing editor of The Black Wall Street Times. He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Strategic Media from the University of Oklahoma and previously wrote for the OU Daily and Red Dirt Report. Osborne enjoys covering diverse communities, with a particular interest in the intersection of race and criminal justice.
Thomas Demane, CNN International, Atlanta, Georgia
Thomas Demane is a newscast producer for CNN International, based at CNN World Headquarters
in Atlanta, Georgia. He manages and produces a number of international and domestic newscasts for CNN. Demane is a specialist in global news events, news producing, news gathering and oversees a team of news writers and editors.
Suzie Herman, KSDK, St. Louis, Missouri
Suzie Herman is a senior producer at KSDK in St. Louis, MO.
She oversees the late news. In her more than 20 years as a producer she has produced just about every newscast. Herman is a three-time Emmy award winner, including one for her work on a documentary following the mass shooting in Las Vegas.
Erika Angulo, NBC News, New York
Erika Angulo is a journalist and a coordinating producer for NBC News. She oversees logistics and editorial content in the field. She spent three months recently covering the war in Ukraine. She reported on survivors and the determination of soldiers fighting Russian troops across Ukraine. She has won national awards, including an Edward R. Murrow for breaking news coverage of the Ft. Lauderdale mass shooting in 2017 and two Emmys for her investigative
stories on cartel drug trafficking at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Ward Colin, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, Georgia
Ward Colin is an Adjunct Professor and Coordinator of Student Media at Kennesaw State University. He has a Bachelor’s in Mass Communication from Dillard University and a Master’s of Mass Communication from Louisiana State University. Previously he worked at radio and television stations in Louisiana. Colin enjoys mentoring journalism students and looks forward to helping diversify the journalism field.
Katherine Watkins, Houston Public Media, Houston, Texas
Katie Watkins is the environmental reporter for Houston Public Media, the NPR member station in
Houston, Texas. Her work on environmental and energy issues in Texas has appeared on NPR, Marketplace, & Here & Now. She also produced the award-winning podcast Fire Triangle, which looked at chemical disasters in the state. She has a decade of experience working in multimedia newsrooms in Chile, the US, and London.
Steph Whiteside, WSIU, Carbondale, Illinois
Steph Whiteside is a reporter with WSIU public radio and Side Effects Public Media. Previously, she worked for Al Jazeera. Her areas of interest include health, politics, and social issues.
