Three of the future fellows are television journalists and four, including Friedhoff, are interested in studying the effects technology has had on the modern world.

Sulaiman Al-Kahtani is the first Saudi Arabian journalist to be selected for the program and has a reputation for promoting freedom of expression in his country, Kovach said.

Kovach said that Helena Smith, a southern Balkans correspondent based in Athens, has a reputation for being one of the best reporters covering that area.

Other journalists selected include Ana Lourdes Cardenas, a television reporter in Mexico City; Sunday Dare, an editor from Nigeria; and Paula Fray, an editor from South Africa.

Dong-Kwan Lee, an assistant editor from South Korea, Consuelo Saavedra, a television reporter, anchor and editor from Chile and Senad Pecanin, an editor from Bosnia and Herzegovina, were also named. Other Nieman fellows will include Sayuri Daimon, a reporter for The Japan Times; Jingcao Hu, director of China Central Television; and Anil Padmanabhan, economic affairs editor of The Business Standard in India.