FOTP 2015 Acknowledgements

Elen Aghekyan is a senior research assistant at Freedom House, and has contributed to its Freedom in the World, Freedom of the Press, and Nations in Transit reports. She holds a bachelor’s degree in government and history from Cornell University, and focuses on governance and human rights in post-Soviet countries. She served as a Europe and Eurasia analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Tehilla Shwartz Altshuler is a research fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute, where she heads projects on media reform and open government. She holds an LLB and PhD from the law faculty at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and spent a postdoctoral year at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. During 2011, Altshuler headed the research and development department of the Second Authority for Radio and Television, the Israeli media regulator. Altshuler’s main academic interests are media and telecommunications regulation, and she has published and edited numerous articles, policy papers, and books on matters of media and new media policy. She served as a Middle East and North Africa analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Lisa Andrade is a scholar of Latin American and U.S. international history. She holds a PhD in history from Yale University. She served as an Americas analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Karen Attiah is a freelance journalist and has written for the Associated Press, the Huffington Post, and other outlets. She received her master’s degree from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, concentrating in human rights and international media. In 2008, Attiah was a Fulbright Scholar to Ghana, where she studied the role of citizen participation in call-in radio shows during the Ghanaian elections, and has also studied the role of social media within African media organizations. She graduated from Northwestern University with a bachelor’s degree in communication studies and African studies. She served as a sub-Saharan Africa analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Ángel Badillo Matos is a senior analyst on culture and language at the Real Instituto Elcano, one of the most prominent think tanks in Spain, and professor at the Social Sciences School of the University of Salamanca. He has taught diverse master’s and doctorate courses on cultural and media policies and economics at various European and Latin American universities. He served as a Europe analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Auksė Balčytienė is professor of journalism at Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas, Lithuania, where she also serves as vice rector for the Department of Public Communications. Her main scholarly interests are international journalism and communication cultures, Central and Eastern European studies, and multilingual and multicultural journalism online. She served as a Europe analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Anna Borshchevskaya is the Ira Weiner fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and also serves as a fellow at the European Foundation for Democracy, where she focuses on the former Soviet Union and the Middle East. Previously, she was the communications director at the American Islamic Congress and assistant director at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center. She holds a master’s degree in international relations from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, and has published in the Mediterranean Quarterly, Turkish Policy Quarterly, and Middle East Quarterly, and in news outlets including the Washington Post and CNN.com. She regularly provides translation and analysis for the Foreign Military Studies Office at Fort Leavenworth. She served as a Eurasia analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Annie Boyajian is Freedom House’s advocacy manager. She previously spent seven years on Capitol Hill, working in both the Senate and the House, where she focused on foreign policy, human rights, and appropriations issues. She holds a master’s degree in international affairs: U.S. foreign policy from American University’s School of International Service, and served as a sub- Saharan Africa analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Andrea Briedé is an intelligence analyst at the Risk Advisory Group, a global risk management consultancy, in London, where she advises clients on political and security developments in the former Soviet Union. She holds a master’s degree in Russian and East European studies from the University of Oxford, and degrees in Russian language and neuroscience from the University of Amsterdam. She served as an Americas and Europe analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Lisa Brooten is associate professor in the Department of Radio, Television, and Digital Media at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. Her research focuses on media reform and democratization, local and global social-movement media, community media, indigenous media, human rights, gender and militarization, and interpretive, critical research methods, particularly in Southeast Asia, where she has lived and conducted fieldwork for many years. Currently, she is completing a comparison of media reform efforts in Thailand, the Philippines, and Burma, funded in the initial stages by a 2008 Fulbright Research Fellowship. She is also a member of the Fulbright Specialist Roster for Burma/Myanmar, Thailand, and the Philippines. She served as an Asia-Pacific analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Matthew Coogan is a freelance editor and researcher based in New York. Previously,  he worked as a research assistant at Freedom House. He holds a master’s degree in Near Eastern studies from New York University. He served as a Middle East and North Africa and sub- Saharan Africa analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Sarah Cook is a senior research analyst for East Asia at Freedom House. She manages the team that produces the China Media Bulletin, a biweekly news digest of press freedom developments related to China. She previously served as assistant editor on three editions of Freedom House’s Freedom on the Net index, which assesses internet and digital media freedom around the world. She coedited the English version of Chinese attorney Gao Zhisheng’s memoir, A China More Just, and was a delegate to the UN Human Rights Commission for an organization working on religious freedom in China. She received a master’s degree in politics and a master of laws degree in public international law from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, where she was a Marshall Scholar. She served as an Asia-Pacific analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Zselyke Csaky is a senior research analyst for Nations in Transit, Freedom House’s annual survey of democratic governance from Central Europe to Eurasia. She has also contributed to Freedom in the World. Prior to joining Freedom House, she worked for the Hungarian and U.S. offices of Amnesty International. She holds master’s degrees in international relations and European studies and in human rights from Central European University. She served as a Europe analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Matt J. Duffy studies journalism in the Arab world, with a focus on the government regulation of both traditional and digital media. His research has appeared in the Journal of Middle East Media, Middle East Media Educator, and the Journal of Mass Media Ethics. He teaches international communication law at Kennesaw State University, and serves as a fellow with the Center for International Media Education at Georgia State University. He published a book on media laws of the United Arab Emirates in 2014, is also a member of the board of directors for the Arab-U.S. Association for Communication Educators. He served as a Middle East and North Africa analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Jennifer Dunham is the director of research for Freedom in the World and Freedom of the Press at Freedom House, and writes country reports on Southern and East Africa for both publications. Previously, she was the managing editor and Africa writer at Facts On File World News Digest. She holds a bachelor’s degree in history–sociology from Columbia University, and a master’s degree in international relations from New York University. She served as a sub-Saharan Africa analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Hopeton Dunn is a leading communications scholar, researcher, and policy analyst based at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Jamaica. At UWI, he is professor of communications policy and digital media, and director of the Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication and the Mona ICT Policy Centre. Dunn is a former secretary general of the International Association for Media and Communication Research and currently serves on numerous other national, regional, and international boards in his field. He is a published author and an active international advocate on issues of freedom of expression, information and communications technology (ICT) access, and research-driven policymaking for countries of the Global South. He served as an Americas analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Marta Dyczok is associate professor of history and political science at Western University in Ontario, Canada. She specializes in international politics and history, with a focus on Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia, and specifically on Ukraine. Her research interests include the politics of history, mass media, migration, post-communism, and World War II. She served as a Eurasia analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Golnaz Esfandiari is a senior correspondent with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the editor of the popular Persian Letters blog. Esfandiari’s work focuses on political and social developments in Iran, and ties between Iran and the United States. Her work has appeared in and has been cited by major publications, including the New Yorker, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Foreign Policy; she has also contributed to Freedom House’s Freedom in the World report. She served as a Middle East and North Africa analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Ana Luiza Farias is a research analyst at ISS Governance, focusing on Latin America. She has a long career in journalism and communication, with experience in daily newspaper, press and public relations in the public sector, and corporate communications in the private sector. A former Fulbright fellow, she concluded her master degree in international relations and economics at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at the Johns Hopkins University in May 2014. She served as an Americas analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Jacey Fortin is a freelance reporter based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with a focus on business and politics. Her work has been featured in outlets including Agence France-Presse, Al-Jazeera, Inter Press Services, and the International Business Times. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English language and literature from Northeastern University. She served as a sub-Saharan Africa analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Sumit Galhotra is an Asia program research associate at Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). He served as CPJ’s inaugural Steiger Fellow and has worked for CNN International, Amnesty International USA, and Human Rights Watch. He has reported from London, India, and Israel and the Occupied Territories, and specializes in human rights and South Asia. He holds master’s degrees in journalism and human rights from Columbia University. He served as an Asia-Pacific analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Cathal Gilbert is a freelance researcher. He has worked with CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, and as an adviser to the Zambian delegation of the European Union, among other positions. Previously, he worked as a project director for Southern Africa programs at Freedom House. He served as a sub-Saharan Africa analyst for Freedom of the Press.

T. R. Goldman is a freelance journalist in Washington, D.C., and writes for a variety of national publications. He is a former reporter and editor at Reuters and Agence France-Presse. He received a master’s degree in international public policy from the Johns Hopkins University School  of  Advanced   International  Studies.  He  served  as  a  sub-Saharan  Africa  analyst    for Freedom of the Press.

Ashley Greco-Stoner is a freelance analyst specializing in human rights, political systems, and media freedom. Previously, she was a senior research assistant at Freedom House, where she focused on internet freedom, primarily in Latin America. She also spent two years working with the Media Freedoms and Human Rights Project at the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies. She has also worked as an environmental consultant, authoring papers on  climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies and other issues for the National Park Service, the Earth Institute, and Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ocean Futures Society. Ashley holds a bachelor’s degree in international affairs and political theory from Columbia University. She served as an Americas analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Eva Hoier Greene is a former research assistant at Freedom House. Previously, she covered nuclear disarmament and other issues at the Permanent Mission of Denmark to the United Nations. She received a bachelor’s degree in international development in Denmark. She served as a Europe analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Sylvana Habdank-Kołaczkowska is a political analyst and researcher specializing in postcommunist Europe. She has previously served as the director of Nations in Transit, Freedom House’s annual report on democratic governance from Central Europe to Eurasia, and as the managing editor of the Journal of Cold War Studies, a peer-reviewed quarterly. She received a master’s degree in Eastern European and Eurasian studies from Harvard University and a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of California, Berkeley. She writes reports on Central Europe for Freedom in the World and served as a Europe analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Summer Harlow is a PhD candidate in journalism at the University of Texas at Austin. An Inter-American Foundation Grassroots Development Fellow conducting her dissertation research on the digital evolution of activist media in El Salvador, she is a journalist with more than 10 years of experience. She has reported and blogged from the United States and Latin America, covering immigration, city government, transportation, minority affairs, and press freedom issues. Her main research inquiries are related to the links between journalism and activism, with an emphasis on Latin America, digital media, alternative media, and international communication. She served as an Americas analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Hilary Hemmings holds a bachelor’s degree in foreign service from Georgetown University, and a master’s degree in international affairs specializing in human rights from Columbia University. She was an Alfa Fellow in Moscow, Russia, from 2013–14, where she worked in a humanitarian health clinic that served the Tajik migrant worker population. She currently works at the International Rescue Committee in the Emergency Preparedness and Response Unit. She served as a Eurasia analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Chris Hennemeyer is an international development consultant specializing in elections and governance, civil society strengthening, humanitarian leadership, and field program management. He has worked at locations across the world for organizations including the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, Catholic Relief Services, the Society for International Development, and Pact. He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Maryland. He served as a sub-Saharan Africa analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Sallie Hughes is an interdisciplinary communications scholar with a specialization in Latin America, the Caribbean, and their diasporas. She is the coauthor of the book Making a Life in Multi-Ethnic Miami: Immigration and the Rise of a Global City and author of Newsrooms in Conflict: Journalism and the Democratization of Mexico. She recently joined the editorial board of the International Journal of Press/Politics and is the program track chair for mass media and popular culture for the 2014 Congress of the Latin American Studies Association. She teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in the Department of Journalism and Media Management and the Latin American Studies Program at the University of Miami. She served as an Americas analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Fatima el-Issawi is a research fellow at the London School of Economics Middle East Centre, where she leads a collaboration project with the American University of Dubai that examines changing media practices in traditional media industries in Morocco and Algeria. She has over 15 years of experience in covering the Middle East for international media outlets including Agence France-Presse and the BBC Arabic Service. She is also a media consultant for several media development and international agencies including the European Commission, the Council of Europe, and the Doha Centre for Media Freedom. She holds a PhD in journalism from Paris II University. She served as a Middle East and North Africa analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Melanie Jakupovic (formerly Dominski) is a proposal and philanthropic strategy specialist at ChildFund International in Washington, D.C. Prior to joining ChildFund International, she worked as a program manager at the Center for Peacebuilding in Sanski Most, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Previously, she served as a program officer for the Global Freedom of Expression Campaign at Freedom House. She holds a master’s degree in international affairs from the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University with a thematic concentration in human security and development and a regional concentration in Europe and Eurasia. She served as a Europe analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Michael Johnson holds a bachelor’s degree in political science–history from Rutgers University and a master’s degree in international affairs from the School of International Service at American University. Prior to working at Freedom House, he had a one-year fellowship at the U.S. Department of Commerce in the Bureau of Industry and Security. His most recent research had examined China’s rise as a global power and its military modernization efforts. He served as an Asia-Pacific analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Karin Deutsch Karlekar is the director of Free Expression Programs at PEN America. Prior to joining PEN, she served from 2001–15 as director of the Freedom of the Press project. As well as acting as an expert spokesperson on press freedom issues at conferences, meetings, and in media appearances, she has developed index methodologies and conducted training sessions on press freedom, internet freedom, freedom of expression, and monitoring dangerous speech; authored a number of special reports and academic papers; and conducted research, assessment, and advocacy missions to Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. She has also worked as an editor at the Economist Intelligence Unit and as a consultant to Human Rights Watch, and from 2006–09 served as chair of the governing council of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) network. She holds a PhD in Indian History from Cambridge University and a bachelor’s degree from Vassar College. She served as an Asia-Pacific and sub-Saharan Africa analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Mohamed Keita is freelance research and former advocacy coordinator for Committee to Protect Journalists’ Africa program. Keita has written about independent journalism and development in sub-Saharan Africa for publications including the New York Times and Africa Review, and has appeared on NPR, the BBC, Al-Jazeera, and Radio France Internationale. Keita has also given presentations on press freedom at the World Bank, U.S. State Department, and universities. He served as a sub-Saharan Africa analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Mark A. Keller is deputy editor at the Latin Trade Group in Miami. His work focuses on the company’s market intelligence and research arm, providing insight into business, economic, and political developments relevant to businesses operating in Latin America. Previously he worked as a research intern at Freedom House, and an editorial associate at Americas Society/Council of the Americas. He holds a master’s degree in Latin American studies from the University of Oxford, where his work focused on Brazil and the Southern Cone, and a bachelor’s degree in history from Columbia University. He served as an Americas analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Sahar Khamis is associate professor at the University of Maryland’s Department of Communication. She is an expert on Arab and Muslim media, the former head of the Mass Communication and Information Science Department at Qatar University, and a former Mellon Islamic Studies Initiative visiting professor at the University of Chicago. She holds a PhD in Mass Media and Cultural Studies from the University of Manchester. She served as a Middle East and North Africa analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Haley Klausmeyer is an editor and former researcher at Freedom House. Her research focuses on state-building and democracy promotion across ethnically divided regions in fragile nations. Previously, she was a country analyst for the Climate Change and African Political Stability program at the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law, as well as a legislative staff member in the Texas House of Representatives and United States Senate. She holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations from the University of Texas at Austin. She served as a Europe analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Niklas Kossow is a PhD candidate and communications officer at the European Research Centre for Anti-Corruption and State-Building in Berlin, focusing on the use of new media tools in anticorruption movements. He holds a bachelor’s degree in European social and political studies from University College London, and a master’s degree in public policy from the Hertie School of Governance. He previously worked as a volunteer fellow for Freedom House, an advisor for Transparency International, and a consultant for the UN Development Program and the World Wide Web Foundation. He is also a contributor to Freedom in the World. He served as a Europe analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Joshua Kurlantzick is a senior fellow for Southeast Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations. Previously, he was a scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he focused on Southeast Asian politics and economics and China’s relations with Southeast Asia. He is a longtime journalist whose articles have appeared in Time, the New Republic, the Atlantic Monthly, Foreign Affairs, and the New Yorker, among others. He is the author of the recently released book Democracy in Retreat: The Revolt of the Middle Class and the Worldwide Decline of Representative Government. He received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Haverford College. He is also a contributor to Freedom in the World. He served as an Asia- Pacific analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Astrid Larson is the manager of programs and special events at American Friends of the Louvre. She has served as an analyst for Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, and the South Pacific for Freedom House’s Freedom in the World report. She received a master’s degree in international media and culture from the New School University. She served as a Europe analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Ibrahim al-Marashi is assistant professor of Middle East History at California State University, San Marcos. His research deals with the modern history of Iraq. He is the co-author of Iraq’s Armed Forces: An Analytical History. He obtained his DPhil at the University of Oxford, completing a thesis on the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. He is an Iraqi-American who lived at various times in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Egypt, Morocco, and Turkey, and has travelled extensively through the Middle East. He served as a Middle East and North Africa analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Eleanor Marchant is a PhD candidate at the Annenberg School for Communications at the University of Pennsylvania, specializing in media, information communication technologies and policy in Africa, and ethnographic research methods. She is also a research associate at the Center for Global Communication Studies and an international fellow at iHub Research in Nairobi, and advises on a variety of research projects related to technology, development, and media policy at both centers. Previously, she worked at the Programme in Comparative Media Law and Policy at Oxford University, the Media Development Investment Fund, the Media Institute in Nairobi, and Freedom House. She received a master’s degree in international relations from New York University and a bachelor’s degree in politics and economics from the University of Bristol. She served as a sub-Saharan Africa analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Michael McCarthy is a research fellow at American University’s Center for Latin American and Latino Studies. Previously, he worked from Caracas with the Carter Center’s Venezuela Election Study Missions in 2012 and 2013, and lived in Venezuela in 2008–09 carrying out field research as a Fulbright and Inter-American Foundation Fellow. He is completing his dissertation on Chavismo’s populism with the political science department at Johns Hopkins University. He served as an Americas analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Kristian McGuire is an independent, Washington-based researcher and the associate editor of the website Taiwan Security Research. He earned a master’s degree in international affairs from George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs and a bachelor’s degree in international relations from the University of the Pacific’s School of International Studies. His research interests include human rights issues in East Asia, U.S.-Taiwan relations, cross-Strait relations, East Asian regional security, and two-level games in alliance politics. He served as an Asia-Pacific analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Maia Mikashavidze is a mass communication scholar and development professional. She serves as the deputy chair of Georgia’s Accreditation Council for Educational Programs, an advisory board member for the International Center for Journalists’ Knight Fellowships program, and the board chair for Creative Initiatives. She cofounded and served as the first dean of the Caucasus School of Journalism and Media Management at the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs, and is also the cofounder of the Management Academy, an executive-level training program. Mikashavidze has previously worked at the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi and has provided consulting services to the U.S. government, the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Co- operation in Europe, and Freedom House. She holds a PhD in mass communication from the University of South Carolina, a master’s degree from the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs, and a diploma from Tbilisi State Conservatoire. She served as a Eurasia analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Timo Mueller is an independent researcher in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. He has previously worked as a field researcher in Goma for the Enough Project, providing facts and analysis on the political security situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and held positions at International Crisis Group, Human Rights Watch, and the American Refugee Committee. He holds a master’s degree in international affairs from the New School and a bachelor’s degree with distinction in liberal arts and sciences from Maastricht University. He served as a sub-Saharan Africa analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Bret Nelson is a project manager for Freedom in the World and Freedom of the Press at Freedom House. He holds a master’s degree in political science from Fordham University and a master’s degree in Middle East studies from the Graduate Center, CUNY. He served as a Middle East and North Africa analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Sarah Oates is professor and senior scholar at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland. She has published widely in the field of political communication, with a particular focus on the way in which the traditional media and the internet can support or subvert democracy in places as diverse as Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Her most recent book, Revolution Stalled: The Political Limits of the Internet in the Post-Soviet Sphere, analyzed the ability of the internet to contribute to freedom of speech in Russia. Her current research examines Russia’s state strategic narrative and how media framing is distributed in the online sphere. She served as a Eurasia analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Folu Ogundimu is professor in the School of Journalism and the College of Communication Arts and Sciences at Michigan State University, East Lansing. He is coeditor of Media and Democracy in Africa. He is a faculty excellence adviser for the College of Communication Arts and Sciences and core faculty of the African Studies Center and the Center for Advanced Study of International Development. He has also served as a senior research associate for Afrobarometer and the Center for Democracy and Development, Ghana; a research associate for the Globalization Research Center on Africa, UCLA; and a visiting professor at the University of Lagos, Nigeria. He served as a sub-Saharan Africa analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Shannon O’Toole is an editor for Freedom of the Press and Freedom in the World, and has written reports on Eastern Europe and the Balkans for both publications. Previously, she was an editor at Facts On File World News Digest, where she covered Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia. She holds a master’s degree in international relations from Central European University, in Budapest. She served as a Europe analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Alessandra Pinna is a program officer for the Global Emergency Assistance Program at Freedom House. Previously, she worked as a researcher and teaching assistant at Roma Tre University. She received her PhD in political science and democracy studies from the Istituto Italiano di Scienze Umane, in Florence. She participated in several research programs, both in Italy and abroad, and has published articles and book chapters on democratization and democracy promotion. She served as a Europe analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Karina Piser is an associate editor at World Politics Review. She previously worked at the Council on Foreign Relations and the European Council on Foreign Relations in Paris. She holds a master’s degree in international security from Sciences Po Paris and conducted field research in Tunisia. Her writing on the Maghreb, France, and more has appeared in Al-Jazeera America, World Politics Review, Foreign Policy, and the Harvard Journal of Middle East Politics and Policy, among other publications. She served as a Middle East and North Africa analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Arch Puddington is senior vice president for research at Freedom House and coeditor of Freedom in the World. He has written widely on American foreign policy, race relations, organized labor, and the history of the Cold War. He is the author of Broadcasting Freedom: The Cold War Triumph of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty and Lane Kirkland: Champion of American Labor. He received a bachelor’s degree in English literature from the University of Missouri, Columbia. He served as an Americas analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Julie Reid is a senior lecturer at the University of South Africa’s Communications Science Department. Her research interests include media policy and regulation, media ethics, and media freedom. She holds a PhD in Communication Science from the University of South Africa. She served as a sub-Saharan Africa analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Tom Rhodes is a freelance journalist and East Africa representative for the Committee to Protect Journalists. He is also the cofounder of South Sudan’s first independent newspaper, the Juba Post, and continues to support journalist training initiatives in the region. Holding a master’s degree in African studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, he has resided and worked in the East Africa region for over seven years. He served as a sub-Saharan Africa analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Andrew Rizzardi is a program coordinator with the Institute for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University. He previously served as a researcher with Freedom House, working extensively on press freedom issues. He holds a master’s degree in international affairs from American University’s School of International Studies. He served as a sub-Saharan Africa and Asia-Pacific analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Heather Roberson is a New York City–based writer. She focuses on grassroots peacemaking efforts, and has worked in Macedonia, and Israel and the West Bank. She served as a Europe analyst for Freedom of the Press.

David Robie is associate professor of journalism in the School of Communication Studies at New Zealand’s Auckland University of Technology and director of the Pacific Media Centre. He holds a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Technology, Sydney, and a PhD in history/politics from the University of the South Pacific, Fiji. He is founding editor of Pacific Journalism Review and convener of Pacific Media Watch, and has written several books on Pacific media, including Mekim Nius: South Pacific Media, Politics, and Education. He also publishes the media freedom blog Café Pacific. He served as an Asia-Pacific analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Firdevs Robinson is a London-based freelance journalist. She writes a bilingual blog, firdevstalkturkey.com, on Turkish affairs. Formerly an editor at the BBC World Service, she regularly contributes to English- and Turkish-language media, and writes mainly about Turkey and Eurasia. An active member of the Association of European Journalists, she writes and campaigns for the safety of journalists and freedom of the media. She served as a Europe analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Tyler Roylance is a staff editor at Freedom House and is involved in a number of its publications. Previously, he worked as a senior editor for Facts On File World News Digest. He holds a master’s degree in history from New York University. He served as a Europe analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Raza Ahmad Rumi is a Pakistani columnist, policy analyst, and journalist. He is consulting editor of the Friday Times, a senior fellow at the Jinnah Institute, and is most recently affiliated with the United States Institute of Peace. He served as an Asia-Pacific analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Ryan Salzman is an assistant professor of political science in the College of Arts and Sciences at Northern Kentucky University. He holds a PhD in political science from the University of North Texas, where his studies focused on news media consumption and political behavior among Latin Americans. He continues to research how individual-level media consumption affects Latin Americans via traditional news media. His recent research projects focus on social media use and protest behavior in Central American states. He served as an Americas analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Hyunjin Seo is an assistant professor and Docking Young Faculty Scholar in the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Kansas. She has published research studies in the areas of digital media, international journalism, and strategic communication. Prior to receiving her PhD from Syracuse University, she was a foreign affairs correspondent for South Korean and international media outlets. During that time, she traveled extensively to cover major international events including six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear issues and UN and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meetings. She served as an Asia-Pacific analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Megan Schultz is a JD candidate at the University of Virginia School of Law. Previously, she was a researcher at Freedom House, and held an internship at the Center for Security Policy in Washington, D.C. She holds bachelor’s degrees in broadcast journalism, political science, and religious studies (Islam) from the University of Missouri, Columbia. She served as an Americas and Asia-Pacific analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Valerie Sinden is the assistant program and conferences officer for the Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA) at the National Endowment for Democracy. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and a master’s degree from the Whitehead School of Diplomacy and International Relations at Seton Hall University. Before joining CIMA, Valerie had internships at Freedom House and the U.S. State Department in Dublin, Ireland. She also served as a senior editor for content for the Whitehead Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations. She served as an Asia-Pacific analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Kateryna Sinkevičienė is a Soros Foundation Open Society scholar, specializing in Eastern Europe. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s degree in European studies from Maastricht University, majoring in European politics and international relations. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in public policy as a scholar of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Lithuania. She is currently a consulting analyst at Euromonitor International’s office in Vilnius, Lithuania, and interned at Freedom House on the Nations in Transit project in 2013–14. She served as a Eurasia analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Janet Steele is associate professor of journalism in the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University. She received her PhD in history from Johns Hopkins University and has taught courses on the theory and practice of journalism in Southeast and South Asia as a Fulbright senior scholar and lecturer. Her book, Wars Within: The Story of Tempo, an Independent Magazine in Soeharto’s Indonesia, focuses on Tempo magazine and its relationship with the politics and culture of New Order–era Indonesia. She served as an Asia-Pacific analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Juliette Storr is associate professor of communications at Pennsylvania State University, Beaver. She is the author of the forthcoming book Journalism in a Small Place: Making Caribbean News Relevant, Comprehensive and Independent. Her scholarship focuses on international and intercultural communication with an emphasis on post-colonial media systems of the Caribbean. Her work includes research on the development of journalism in the Caribbean, Caribbean media production, public broadcasting service, African and Caribbean diasporas, Caribbean public relations, and media representations of women and minority groups in the Caribbean. A former journalist who has worked in media in the Caribbean and the United States, she teaches courses in public relations, business and professional communication, media ethics, radio production, intercultural communication, research methods and communication theory and has published and presented research at national, regional, and international conferences. She served as an Americas analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Nicole Stremlau is coordinator of the program in comparative media law and policy at the University of Oxford, where she is also a research fellow in the Centre of Socio-Legal Studies. She holds a PhD from the London School of Economics in development studies. Her research focuses on media policy during and in the aftermath of guerrilla struggles in the Horn of Africa. She served as a sub-Saharan Africa analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Natalie Sykes is a JD candidate at Columbia Law School. Prior to attending Columbia, she worked as a researcher for Freedom House. She holds a master’s degree in human rights from  the London School of Economics and a bachelor’s degree in international politics from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. She served as an Americas analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Bernard Tabaire is a media trainer and director of programs at the Kampala-based African Centre for Media Excellence, a nonprofit professional organization he cofounded in 2009 to advance journalistic and communication excellence in Uganda and the East Africa region. He is also a columnist with the Sunday Monitor, and a radio and television commentator on public and current affairs. He was until October 2008 a co-managing editor of the Daily Monitor, Uganda’s leading independent newspaper. He holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology and literature in English from Makerere University in Uganda and a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He was a 2006–07 visiting journalist fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University. He has taught journalism at Makerere University and consulted for various local and international organizations on journalism and communication. He served as a sub-Saharan Africa analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Judy Taing is a senior program officer at ARTICLE 19, where she specializes in free speech on the internet, hate speech and religious intolerance, access to information, and protection of human rights defenders, particularly in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Cambodia. Judy holds an MSc Human Rights from the London School of Economics, and a bachelor’s degree in political science and development, with a minor in Southeast Asian studies, from the University of California, Berkeley. She served as an Asia-Pacific analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Kai Thaler is a PhD student in the Department of Government at Harvard University, with a focus on comparative politics and international relations in Africa, Latin America, and the Lusophone countries. He has been an affiliated researcher of the Portuguese Institute of International Relations and Security, a consultant for Handicap International, a researcher at the Centre for Social Science Research at the University of Cape Town, and a DGARQ/FLAD Research Fellow at the Portuguese national archives. He holds master’s degrees in political science and sociology from Harvard University and the University of Cape Town and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Yale University. He served as a sub-Saharan Africa analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Mai Truong is a program officer and Africa research analyst for Freedom on the Net, Freedom House’s annual assessment of internet and digital media freedom. Prior to joining Freedom House, she worked on projects related to international development, food security, and women’s rights issues in sub-Saharan Africa. She received a master’s degree in international relations from Yale University’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs. She served as a sub-Saharan Africa analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Rebecca Vincent is a human rights activist and former U.S. diplomat who has worked on human rights issues in Azerbaijan for more than nine years. She is currently the coordinator of the Sport for Rights campaign, and has worked with a wide range of Azerbaijani and international human rights and freedom of expression organizations. She has published widely on human rights issues in Azerbaijan for outlets including Al-Jazeera English, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Index on Censorship, and the London-based think tank The Foreign Policy Centre, where she is a research associate. She holds a master’s degree in human rights from University College London, and a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of North Texas. She served as a Eurasia analyst for Freedom of the Press.

Ratings Review Advisers

Rosental Calmon Alves holds the Knight Chair in International Journalism and the UNESCO Chair in Communication in the School of Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin. He is also the founding director of the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas. He began his academic career in the United States in 1996 after 27 years as a professional journalist, including seven years as a journalism professor in Brazil. He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and was the first Brazilian to be awarded with a Nieman Fellowship to study at Harvard University. A board member of several national and international organizations, he has been a frequent speaker and trainer as well as a consultant. He served as an Americas adviser for Freedom of the Press.

Agnès Callamard is the director of Colombia University’s Global Freedom of Expression Project. Previously, she spent nine years as the Executive Director of ARTICLE 19; founded and led HAP International (the Humanitarian Accountability Partnership); and was chef de cabinet for the secretary general of Amnesty International (AI) and led AI’s policy work and research on women’s human rights. She has led human rights investigations in more than 30 countries, and has published broadly in the field of human rights, women’s rights, refugee movements, and accountability. She holds a PhD in Political Science from the New School for Social Research in New York. She served as a Europe adviser for Freedom of the Press.

John Dinges is the Godfrey Lowell Cabot Professor of Journalism at Columbia University and a former correspondent in Latin America. He was awarded the Maria Moors Cabot gold medal in 1992. His books include The Condor Years: How Pinochet and His Allies Brought Terrorism to Three Continents; Assassination on Embassy Row (with Saul Landau); and Our Man in Panama: The Shrewd Rise and Brutal Fall of Manuel Noriega. He was an assistant editor on the Washington Post’s foreign desk; served as deputy foreign editor, managing editor, and editorial director of NPR News; and was founder/director of the Centro de Investigación e Información Periodística (CIPER) in Chile. He served as an Americas adviser for Freedom of the Press.

Eric Freedman is professor of journalism and former associate dean of international studies and programs at Michigan State University (MSU). He has taught journalism as a Fulbright scholar in Lithuania and Uzbekistan, led workshops and seminars for professional journalists in Central Asia, and lectured to students in Singapore, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Japan and Kyrgyzstan. The author of numerous books, his research interests include press systems and journalism practices in the former Soviet Union: international journalists’ professional standards and education; public affairs reporting; news coverage of human and political rights; and U.S. political history. Freedman earned his bachelor’s degree in government from Cornell University, his law degree from New York University and his master’s degree in resource development from MSU. He served as a Eurasia adviser for Freedom of the Press.

Jeffrey Ghannam is an attorney and media professional who has contributed widely to the analysis and debate about the role of digital media leading up to and following the recent civil movements in the Arab world, including a two-part report for the National Endowment for Democracy’s Center for International Media Assistance. He has written separately on the subject for the Economist and the Washington Post. He received a Knight International Journalism Fellowship to Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon to develop programs in the region, where he has also served as a media development trainer and adviser. He spent a decade at the Detroit Free Press, where he reported on the law and served as an editor. He was on staff at the New York Times Washington bureau and contributed news and features. He served as a Middle East and North Africa adviser for Freedom of the Press.

Peter Gross is director of the School of Journalism and Electronic Media at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. His scholarly specialization is in international communication, with a focus on Central and Eastern Europe. He was instrumental in establishing a new journalism program in 1992 at the University of Timisoara, Romania, and in the last 24 years served as a consultant for the International Media Fund, the Freedom Forum, and the Eurasia Foundation, and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, among other organizations. He is the author of Entangled Evolutions: Media and Democratization in Eastern Europe, as well as five other scholarly books and three textbooks, and is the coeditor of two books, including Media Transformations in the Post-Communist World: Eastern Europe’s Tortured Path to Change. He served as a Europe and Eurasia adviser for Freedom of the Press.

Daniel C. Hallin is professor of communication at the University of California, San Diego. His books include The “Uncensored War”: The Media and Vietnam; We Keep America on Top of the World: Television Journalism and the Public Sphere; and, with Paolo Mancini, Comparing Media Systems: Three Models of Media and Politics and Comparing Media Systems Beyond the Western World. He has also written on media and politics in Mexico and on media and political clientelism in Latin America. He served as an Americas adviser for Freedom of the Press.

Adel Iskander is an assistant professor of global communication at Simon Fraser University (SFU) in Vancouver/Burnaby, Canada. He is the author, co-author, and editor of several works including Egypt in Flux: Essays on an Unfinished Revolution; Al-Jazeera: The Story of the Network that is Rattling Governments and Redefining Modern Journalism; Edward Said: A Legacy of Emancipation and Representation; and Mediating the Arab Uprisings. Iskandar’s work deals with media, identity, and politics; and he has lectured extensively on these topics at universities worldwide. His forthcoming publication is the co-edited volume Media Evolution on the Eve of the Arab Spring. Prior to his arrival at SFU, Iskandar taught for several years at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies and the Communication, Culture, and Technology Program at Georgetown University, in Washington, D.C. He served as a Middle East and North Africa adviser for Freedom of the Press.

Drew McDaniel is professor and director of the School of Media Arts and Studies at Ohio University. Previously, he held the posts of director of the Center for International Studies, director of Communication and Development Studies, and director of Southeast Asian Studies. Prior to joining Ohio University, he worked as a broadcast journalist in the states of Washington and Colorado. He has held visiting professor positions at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and Universiti Teknologi MARA in Malaysia. In 1990 he held a Fulbright Regional Research Fellowship in Southeast Asia, and more recently he received an appointment as distinguished scholar in residence at the University of Queensland in Australia. He has written extensively on media in Asia and on technology in communication. Among his book publications are Electronic Tigers of Southeast Asia: The Politics of Media, Technology, and National Development and Broadcasting in the Malay World. He served as an Asia-Pacific adviser for Freedom of the Press.

Kavita Menon is a senior program officer at the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). As CPJ Asia program coordinator from 1999 to 2003, she led research and advocacy missions to countries including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia. She left CPJ to take up the Pew Fellowship in international reporting at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, and then worked as a researcher and campaigner on South Asia for Amnesty International before returning to CPJ in 2008. She has written for publications including the Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, the International Herald Tribune, and Ms. magazine. She has produced radio features for NPR’s All Things Considered, Monitor Radio, WNYC, and WBAI, and previously worked as assistant producer of NPR’s On the Media. She earned a master’s degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.  She served as an Asia-Pacific adviser for Freedom of the Press.

Devra C. Moehler is assistant professor at the Annenberg School of Communication, University of Pennsylvania. She holds a PhD in political science from the University of Michigan. Her research focuses on comparative political communication, democratization, partisan information sources, and political behavior, with a focus on Africa. She is the author of the book Distrusting Democrats: Outcomes of Participatory Constitution Making. Previously, she was an assistant professor of government at Cornell University and a fellow at the Harvard Academy of International and Area Studies. In addition, she served as a Democracy Fellow at the U.S. Agency for International Development, where she provided technical assistance in the design of experimental and quasi-experimental impact evaluations of democracy and governance assistance programs. She served as a sub-Saharan Africa adviser for Freedom of the Press.

Robert Orttung is assistant director of the Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, president of the Resource Security Institute, and a visiting scholar at the Center for Security Studies at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich. He is managing editor of Demokratizatsiya: The Journal of Post-Soviet Democratization and a coeditor of the Russian Analytical Digest and the Caucasus Analytical Digest. He received a PhD in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles. He served as a Europe and Eurasia adviser for Freedom of the Press.

Bettina Peters is director of development at the Thomson Foundation, a leader in international media support, journalism, and management training since 1962. Before joining the Thomson Foundation, she was the director of the Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD), a network of organizations involved in media assistance programs around the world. Until 2007, she worked as director of programs at the European Journalism Center (EJC), in charge of its international journalism training program. Previously, she worked for 11 years at the International Federation of Journalists headquarters in Brussels. She holds degrees in political science and journalism from the University of Hamburg, and has edited several publications on journalism, such as the GFMD’s Media Matters II and the EJC’s handbook on civic journalism. She served as a Europe adviser for Freedom of the Press.