Pulitzer Center Reporting Fellows Tell Global Health Stories.

Kateri Donahoe is passionate about combating violence against women and improving sexual and reproductive health. This summer, the global health student had the opportunity to use that passion in a new way.

As a 2015 Pulitzer Center Reporting Fellow, Donahoe reported from Mali on female genital cutting (FCG).

Combining public health expertise with journalism training gave her an enhanced perspective on why eliminating the practice is so complex. Nowhere was this more apparent than her interview with an FCG practitioner. “The woman opened her home to me and carefully, patiently explained the practice, her history with it, and her motivations to keep practicing it,” Donahoe says.

“Because she was so open and so forthcoming, I was able to write the truest account of her experience, and really provide a deeper perspective of a practice shrouded in mystery.”

“Being able to tell good, captivating stories about these issues is so important,” agrees Jennifer Beard, assistant professor of global health and part of BU’s Program on Crisis Response and Reporting.

Since 2011, SPH and the College of Communications have collaborated with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting to award fellowships to students at both SPH and COM. This year there were two COM fellows, Claire Felter and Pankaj Khadka.

An SPH student takes a class at COM—and vice versa—before heading to Washington, DC, for a month of mentoring by Pulitzer Center-supported journalists and staff. Then they begin their projects, traveling anywhere a story needs to be told.

—Michelle Samuels

The 2015 fellows will share their experiences at the Pulitzer Center Reporting Fellowship information session on Thursday, October 29, from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in COM209, 640 Commonwealth Avenue (CRC).