New York, June 1, 2017–The Committee to Protect Journalists today announced the launch of the Patti Birch Fellowships Program to honor the legacy of Patti Birch. The Patti and Everett B. Birch Foundation made a generous bequest to CPJ in early 2017 to honor Birch’s lifelong commitment to freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and the strengthening of democratic institutions.
“CPJ is deeply grateful to the Patti and Everett B. Birch Foundation for its extraordinary contribution,” said Joel Simon, CPJ’s executive director. “By establishing a Patti Birch Fellowships Program, CPJ will help shape a new generation of journalists who advocate for press freedom around the world.”
Over the next five years, CPJ will hire 10 Patti Birch Fellows, who will each carry out a supervised independent project. Each fellowship will be a one-year paid position with benefits. The job advertisement for the first Patti Birch Fellow on Gender and Media Freedom is published here.
Birch, who died in 2007, was also a supporter of the arts and was a longtime honorary trustee of both the Metropolitan Museum and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. She and her husband, Everett, who died in 1987, made significant donations of art and funding over the years.
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CPJ is an independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide.