Ashwaq Masoodi, national writer at The Mint, has been awarded the Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University. In a press release, the Nieman Foundation for Journalism announced that Ashwaq will join 26 other Nieman Fellows for the class of 2020. The prestigious fellowship entails attending two semesters at Harvard University, starting September 2019.
The fellows participate in Nieman seminars, workshops,masters classes and conduct research with Harvard scholars, among others.
The release also said that, at Harvard, Ashwaq would exploreways to battle stereotypes and improve media reporting on Muslims, the largestreligious minority in India.
The Nieman Foundation for Journalism has educated more than1,600 accomplished journalists from 98 countries since 1938.
The selected journalists are from a dozen countries,including Australia, Lebanon, Niger, Turkey, China, Russia, Zimbabwe, Hungary,besides from nine different US states and Washington D.C.
Ashwaq has been working in Mint since August 2013 andspecializes in long stories on the lives of the marginalized communities,gender and society.
The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard educatesleaders in journalism and elevates the standards of the profession throughspecial programs that convene scholars and experts in all fields.
In addition to its fellowship program, the foundation’sother initiatives include Nieman Reports, a website and quarterly printmagazine that covers thought leadership in journalism; Nieman Lab, a websitethat reports on the future of news, innovation and best practices in thedigital media age; and Nieman Storyboard, a website that showcases exceptionalnarrative journalism and explores the future of nonfiction storytelling.