KipProgram

12/01/2025

Today begins the final week to apply for the 2026 Kiplinger Fellowship at Ohio University.
The theme for the May 11-14 fellowship is SAVING LOCAL NEWS with the goal of providing community news leaders with a practical guide to saving and revitalizing their news outlets.
We have commitments from top journalism organizations who will have trainers on hand. We will also showcase small, local news outlets who are experiencing success using their own formulas.
Kiplinger provides a travel stipend to help defer costs, provides accommodations and most meals for the fellowship.
For more information and to apply, please visit:
https://www.ohio.edu/scripps-college/journalism/kiplinger
Use the top menu to find Fellowship, click and go to the application page. Applications close at 11:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 7.

The Kiplinger Program in Public Affairs Journalism at Ohio University trains professional journalists in ways to create more dynamic and comprehensive coverage of the issues facing us today.

10/22/2025

Applications for the 2026 Kiplinger Fellowship are now open.
Next year's theme is Saving Local News: A Practical Guide. May 11-14 at Ohio University.
This four-day, workshop-focused fellowship will address a number of issues directly affecting the dwindling local news industry and we will offer solutions. We have commitments from speakers/trainers of some of the top organizations committed to addressing local new deserts.
We encourage newsrooms in North America to apply. We will consider appropriate applications from international newsrooms facing similar challenges.
Kiplinger will cover accommodations, meals and provide a travel stipend to cover travel.
To apply, visit here: https://www.ohio.edu/scripps-college/journalism/kiplinger/fellowship/apply-now

07/30/2025

Kiplinger is in Armenia for a week with Ohio University’s Scripps School of Journalism faculty.
We are participating in the Armenia Project and delivering ethics lectures to graduate students at the American University of Armenia.

03/21/2025

And, with this post, we are at the end of introductions of fellows and speakers for the 2025 Kiplinger Fellowship in AI and Journalism.

Hannah Schmillen is the assistant dean for research and education at Ohio University’s libraries.
In her role as department head, she has developed a strategic vision and direction for the newly established department, fostering collaboration within her team. The Research Services Department supports Ohio University’s research enterprise as a trusted partner, with a focus on research services related to data, open science, scholarly impact, and student research and creative activity.
She has also been a key collaborator and innovator in the Libraries’ exploration and support of generative AI for the Ohio University community.
Throughout her career at Ohio University, one constant has been Schmillen’s role as the Health Sciences Librarian, a position she has held since 2015.
Over the years, she has cultivated strong relationships and deep collaborations with the College of Health Sciences and Professions, supporting hundreds of classes, students, and faculty in their courses and research endeavors.
Schmillen earned a master of library and information science from the University of Denver and a bachelor of biological sciences from Illinois State University.

03/20/2025

We turn to Ohio University for our next speaker, a member of the Scripps School of Journalism.

Dan Farkas is a professor of strategic communication at Ohio University, where he teaches research, strategy, content creation, measurement, and analytics courses.
He’s also a business owner when not chasing late homework or his two kids.
His latest venture is Pass PR, which aims to mind the gap between employer needs and employee capacity.
Dan’s been called "A recognized thought leader in the PR….he also is a sought-after speaker on both national and local levels who is an exceptional storyteller drawing on his collective experience as a former journalist and current practitioner and instructor." His book, Strategic Content Marketing: Creating Effective Content in Practice, is out now. You can also hear him on The Strategic Communicator Podcast, part of the Marketing Podcast Network.
In a former life, Dan earned more than 20 awards for his work in television news. His work appeared on CNN, MSNBC, and SI.com.

03/19/2025

From across the pond, our next speaker on AI during the Kiplinger Fellowship is from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Tshepo Tshabalala is the Project Manager of JournalismAI, a research and training project run by Polis - the international journalism think-tank of the LSE – with support from the Google News Initiative.
JournalismAI aims to inform media organizations about the potential offered by AI-powered technologies. The project offers research reports, training materials, a network for best practice and innovation sharing and much more.
Prior to joining Polis and JournalismAI, Tshepo was Project Coordinator at the Journalism and Media Lab (Jamlab Africa), a project of the Wits Center for Journalism at Wits University. Before that he worked as a journalist at various publications including Business Day Wanted, BusinessLive, Forbes Africa and Thomson Reuters.
He holds a master of arts in aournalism from Stellenbosch University; a master of arts in philosophy, politics and economics from University of York; a bachelor of arts (Honours) in journalism and media studies. Tshepo is a Chevening Scholar and an EVA Junior Business Fellow.

03/18/2025

Our next speaker will explore the legal aspects of AI with the fellows. Welcome her.

Merisa Bowers earned her law degree cm laude from Case Western Reserve University School of Law and her bachelor of arts in political science with dpartmental honors from the University of Cincinnati.
In 2023, Merisa joined the Ohio Bar Liability Insurance Company (OBLIC) as Loss Prevention Counsel after nearly 14 years in private practice. In her role, she assists Ohio lawyers by advancing forward-thinking policies and managing risks with a blend of empathy and strategic planning.
Her thoughtful and strategic approach to advocacy has earned her recognition from her peers, including being named as a Top 40 Under 40 Attorney by the National LGBT Bar Association in 2016 and multiple Super Lawyers Rising Star designations.
She is an active member of the Ohio State Bar Association, the Columbus Bar Association, and a 2024 Ohio State Bar Foundation Fellow.
Bowers has provided guidance to her fellow bar members regarding the use of artificial intelligence in their work and in a new world that raises a number of questions about copyright, privacy and libel.

03/18/2025

An expert in AI imaging and fake spotting, our next speaker comes from Australia by way of Toronto.

Patrick Dell is an award-winning visual journalist who has worked in news for more than 25 years.
He was an editor and producer in Australian television before moving to Canada in 2006 and now works in the Visual Journalism team at The Globe and Mail.
Patrick’s current focus is reporting on dis- and misinformation, including generative AI and its impact on our information landscape.

03/16/2025

Welcome our next speaker to the 2025 Kiplinger Fellowship.

Samantha Sunne a freelance journalist based in New Orleans. She is the recipient of several national grants and awards for investigative reporting, most recently the ProPublica Local Reporting Network fellowship.
When not on a reporting project, she teaches at conferences, universities and newsrooms around the world, including Investigative Reporters & Editors (IRE), the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ).
Her first book, coauthored with trainer Mike Reilley, “Data + Journalism: A Story-Driven Approach to Learning Data Reporting,” was an Amazon bestseller in 2023.

03/15/2025

Now, let's meet the 2025 Kiplinger Fellowship's lineup of impressive speakers.

This year's Kiplinger Fellowship in artificial intelligence in journalism brings some of the best trainers and minds on the subject to Ohio University. Our first speaker is widely known for his work with journalists in adapting AI and other technologies to their work.

Jeremy Caplan is Director of Teaching and Learning at CUNY's Newmark Graduate School of Journalism in New York City. Since 2010 he has led the school's Entrepreneurial Journalism Creators Program, a 100-day online-only curriculum for independent journalists around the world.
As a reporter at Time Magazine, Caplan wrote about digital innovation. After studying public policy at the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University, he earned an MS in Journalism as a Knight-Bagehot Fellow at Columbia University and an MBA at Columbia Business School as a Wiegers Fellow.
Before Caplan was an educator and journalist he was a violinist, serving as Concertmaster of the International Symphony Orchestra in Jerusalem.
He writes the Wonder Tools newsletter to help journalists and other professionals make the most of emerging technology, and he's online at jeremycaplan.com.
He lives in New York City with his wife and two young daughters in New York City, where they spend family time playing elaborate board games, jamming on their classical instruments, and making chocolate desserts.

03/14/2025

We have reached the end of our 2025 Kiplinger class introductions. Journalists will arrive in Columbus on March 22-23 to being their fellowship in AI and Journalism at Ohio University.

Our last introduced journalist comes to us from Sweden.

Carl Fridh Kleberg is an international corresponden for Swedish national television (SVT), covering Russia, Ukraine, the former USSR states, and the Middle East, as well as global conflicts and international affairs more broadly.
He has reported on world news for nearly 15 years, primarily based in Stockholm, with extended postings in Moscow and various countries across the Middle East.
In recent years, Carl has emerged as one of Sweden’s most prominently featured international correspondents. His coverage includes on-location reporting from the war in Ukraine from its first day, the October 7 attacks in Israel and the ensuing Gaza war, and the fall of the al-Assad regime in Syria.
Beyond news reporting, Carl has a strong background in digital source protection and IT security for journalists. He has conducted training and advocacy in this field, completed a short-term research fellowship at the London School of Economics, and co-authored a handbook for whistleblowers.
He has also served on the advisory board for Sweden’s premier Master’s Program in Investigative Journalism at Gothenburg University and on the editorial board of the magazine of Sweden’s Association of Investigative Journalists.

03/12/2025

Our next fellow is an educator, one of three in this year's class.

Mehrunnisa Wani is a photojournalist and an assistant professor of English.
She is a regular contributor to Forbes where she focuses on foreign policy, social justice, and resistance movements. Locally, she covers marginalized communities, exploring solidarity movements and activism around inclusion into American society, and rebuilding and reforming of identity.