More than 500 print and broadcast journalists have studied at the DeWitt Wallace Center from the United States and abroad. Fellows study public policy, politics, international affairs, environment, economics, history, business, law, and new media technologies. The program provides an opportunity for journalists with some experience to enhance and expand their skills and interests.
Admission is by application and funding is available through a variety of sources.
Graduates of this professional development program have won top journalism awards, established innovative news programs and independent broadcast stations in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, launched an on-line news service in Africa, and assumed leadership positions in media enterprises all over the world. In recent years, the program has featured lectures and seminars by distinguished Duke faculty and special guests, including Bob Woodward, Tom Brokaw and William Raspberry to discuss journalism ethics, Assistant Secretary of State John Shattuck to speak about human rights issues, University of Illinois Political Scientist Doris Graber to speak on the impact of television news, public opinion analysts Peter Hart and Arthur White to talk about the impact of polls, and Ted Koppel, Judy Woodruff, David Gergen, R.W. Apple, and Geneva Overholser to discuss the role of the press in covering national politics. Yelena Masyuk, Arkady Mamontov and Aleksander Khabarov, outstanding correspondents for NTV in Moscow, are among the more than 500 print and broadcast journalists who have been in residence at the Center as Visiting Media Fellows, many of whom have since won top journalism awards, launched innovative news programs and independent broadcast news stations, and assumed leadership positions in media enterprises around the globe. Every year about 50 U.S. and international Fellows come to Duke University to examine the role of the news media in democracies. Fellowships are tailored to meet the individual needs of journalists, policy makers and news executives, and can range from a few weeks to an entire academic year.