Twelve journalists from five Asian countries comprise the 2013 grantees of the ACFJ Fellowships in MA Journalism.
Four seasoned journalists, Luis Dela Vega (Inquirer Libre, Philippines), Dandy Koswaraputra (Al Jazeera Network, Indonesia), Minh Zaw Oo (Trade Times, Myanmar), and Yi Mon (Alinkar Wityee Magazine, Myanmar) lead the group as senior fellows.
Of the junior fellows, five come from the Philippines, and one each from Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. This new batch of fellows brings to 142 the total number of Asian journalists who have been named ACFJ fellows.
The fellowship program, run by ACFJ since 2003, supports Asian journalists taking the MA Journalism at Ateneo. They are selected on the basis of excellent professional and academic record and leadership potential. A full grant covers tuition fees, books, international and domestic travel and living expenses for the on-campus sessions.
Senior fellow Dela Vega has been editor-in-chief of Inquirer Libre, a free newspaper, since 2003. Aside from leading the daily operations of the news organization’s “Superdesk” or multimedia newsroom, he co-hosts Kumpadres (godfather) on Radyo Inquirer.
Dandy Koswaraputra has been a journalist for 18 years and has worked for local and international news organizations including Bloomberg and Reuters. He was a fellow in East-West Center’s 2010 Senior Journalists Seminar on the theme “Bridging Gaps between the US and Muslim World.”
As an editor, Minh Zaw Oo, heads and trains a team of business news reporters in the newly established journal Trade Times. Minh started as a reporter for Myanmar Consolidated Media Limited, covering stories on education, social aid, politics, and economics. He has also worked as a communication specialist for the international non-government organization World Vision.
Lifestyle magazine editor Yi Mon started as a freelance writer for a fashion magazine ten years ago. She also worked as a reporter for The Myanmar Times and as an editor for Planet Myanmar and Faces Magazine before moving to Alinkar Wityee Magazine. Mon also established her own fashion journal called “Violet” in 2010.
The MA Journalism, a two-year program run by ACFJ under the Department of Communication, Ateneo de Manila University, is a blended learning program designed for Asian working journalists.
The 2013 fellows are: Mohamed Ameen (Assistant Producer, BBC News Colombo, Sri Lanka), Rommel David (Writer and Producer, GMA Network Inc., Philippines), Luis Dela Vega III (Editor-in-Chief, Inquirer Libre, Philippines), Paterno Esmaquel (Multimedia Reporter, Rappler Inc., Philippines), Dandy Koswaraputra (Senior Producer, Al Jazeera Network, Indonesia), Yi Mon (Editor, Alinkar Wityee, Myanmar), Minh Zaw Oo (Editor, Trade Times, Myanmar), Ha Pham (Part-time Reporter, Vietnam News Agency, Vietnam), Victoria Camille Tulad (Correspondent, GMA Network Inc., Philippines), Anna Theresa Valmero (Assistant Producer, Filquest Media Concepts Inc., Philippines), Aditya Wardhana (Producer, TV One, Indonesia), Ciara Anne Zambrano (Field Reporter, ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs, Philippines).
