HOUSTON – (Sept. 16, 2016) – Houston Public Media’s News 88.7 education reporter Laura Isensee is traveling to Pakistan this week for a fellowship with the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) as part of their U.S.-Pakistan Professional Partnership in Journalism program. Over the next two-weeks, Isensee will share interesting aspects of her journey online at www.houstonpublicmedia.org/pakistan.
As part of the fellowship, Isensee will learn the realities of Pakistani journalism and life in Pakistan through site visits and interviews and she will also have the opportunity to interact with journalists, officials and locals. She is then extending her stay to work on a reporting project for News 88.7 focused on education.
"I'm very excited about the ICFJ fellowship to learn more about Pakistan and appreciate the opportunity,” said Isensee. “There are so many ties between Houston and Pakistan -- I think it will be fascinating to bring that story home to Houston."
Eight U.S. journalists from a wide variety of news organizations across the U.S. were selected to participate in this year’s fellowship program.
As the education reporter for News 88.7, Isensee covers K-12 and higher education in Greater Houston. Isensee joined Houston Public Media in 2013. Prior to returning to her hometown of Houston to work at Houston Public Media, she was a staff reporter at the Miami Herald and contributed to South Florida’s NPR affiliate. Isensee has won awards for her work in print and radio, including best specialty/beat reporting from the Texas AP Broadcasters Association in 2015 and best talk show from the Lone Star Awards for a collaboration with KERA in Dallas.
“This is a great opportunity for Laura to not only experience the rich culture and world of reporting in another country, but to bring our listeners along on this exciting journey,” said Jose Jimenez, interim news director of Houston Public Media.
ICFJ is a non-profit, professional organization located in Washington, D.C. that promotes journalism worldwide. Their U.S.-Pakistan Professional Partnership in Journalist program is a multi-year program funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs that aims to bring 230 Pakistani media professionals to the U.S. and send 70 U.S. journalists to Pakistan.
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(This post was taken from a release sent to me by Houston Public Media)
