Global and local experiences

A hallmark of the Knight-Wallace experience, our Fellows embark on international news tours designed to challenge assumptions and make better journalists. At this time, international travel is not planned for the 2022-2023 fellowship class. We hope to resume international fellowship trips and will evaluate conditions for returning to travel at the beginning of the 2023-2024 academic year.

Fellows step away from daily deadlines and gain new perspectives through travel with their Knight-Wallace colleagues. Our news tours are designed to provide a broader context to the political, social and economic forces that shape newsroom coverage and story selection.

Naturally, our Fellows explore Michigan, Detroit, Flint and area communities during their 8-month residency in the Midwest. We kick things off with a family trip to stunning Northern Michigan under crisp autumn skies. We also explore the neighborhoods and institutions of Detroit and meet with local historians, residents and those leading the region’s redevelopment.

Later in the year, we embark on international news tours that are intensive and invigorating. We’ve visited two South American capitals, Buenos Aires and São Paulo. We met with influential politicians, historians, journalists and cultural experts.

We have also journeyed to South Korea, where Fellows made stops at the offices of the investigative group Newstap, a museum of antique Korean furniture, a U.S. military base and the Demilitarized Zone.

Additionally, our Fellows have traveled to Istanbul to explore the city that straddles Europe and Asia and examine the geopolitical importance of Turkey. We cheered for the National Premier League’s Fenerbahce soccer team and visited a typical Turkish Hammam. Fellows met Abdullah Gül, then foreign minister, and Hrant Dink, slain editor of Argos.

Read more on our Fellowship trips abroad:

Fellow serves as tour guide in his home country
Seungjin Choi ’19
Her last trip to Korea was 20 years ago to visit her grandparents, this time she returns with a reporter’s mindset
Candice Choi ’18
A trip to the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)
Robert Yoon ’18