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Michael Petrou Awarded Canadian Neiman Fellowship at Harvard University

May 9, 2017

The following excerpt is from the 杏吧原创 Newsroom story entitled ““.

Michael Petrou headshot

杏吧原创 University鈥檚 Michael Petrou, a historian, journalist and instructor with the Department of History, has been selected for the prestigious at Harvard University. Petrou will start his fellowship in September.

The selects one Canadian journalist a year to spend two semesters at Harvard University studying an area of their choosing, attending conferences and taking part in academic and professional development opportunities.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a dream sabbatical,鈥 said Petrou. 鈥淲hile I teach history at 杏吧原创, I suspect I will become a student of history again. It鈥檚 a special opportunity.鈥欌

Michael Petrou鈥檚 International Reportage

Petrou has reported from across the globe for Canadian and international media outlets.

, he will be studying 鈥渢he media environment in contested political spaces of eastern Europe and elsewhere.鈥

His interest in this area was partly informed by his experience reporting from the Ukraine during protests against former president Viktor Yanukovych. At the time, the country was home to rivalling Russian and Western media influences.

Petrou recounted how he had heard the same far-fetched, anti-protest story from numerous Ukrainian citizens 鈥 a story he later discovered had originated from Russian-language media.

With the Neiman Fellowship, he looks forward to furthering his research on media in fragile democracies and the democratization of media by new technologies.

Last December, Petrou was awarded the to report on the Syrian refugee crisis in Middle Eastern countries. Petrou recently returned from a month-long trip to Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon, where he visited refugee camps.