News Points

Mark Stanley, Pulitzer Center

To mark our "In Focus: Afghanistan" series, which has spotlighted important news and issues pertaining to the ramifications of human casualties in Afghanistan, the Pulitzer Center asked our audience the following question:

What role should foreign intervention, military and otherwise, play in state building?"

Below are select responses from our audience.

Tired of Imperialism responded: "Absolutely none. Leave nations to build their own democracies. No one can do it for you."

Donte Donald, Pulitzer Center

The instructions for the first round of Project Report video contest were to film a day in the life of an inspiring person, and the participants answered the call with compelling stories. The top 10 semi-finalists come from a group of 148 qualified entrants. With topics that run the gamut from environmental responsibility to healthcare inequities, this year's crop of entrants approached the assignment from multiple angles that brought their subjects to life.

Mark Stanley, Pulitzer Center

Recently, the Pulitzer Center has highlighted reporting projects that focus on the human factor of the conflict in Afghanistan. An ongoing issue is so-called collateral damage, the unintended civilian casualties that result from military attacks and that have often inflamed local opposition.

Pulitzer Center Staff

This week, the Pulitzer Center is presenting five panels entitled "Afghanistan: The Human Factor" that will focus on the ramifications of human casualties in Afghanistan.

To coincide, the Pulitzer Center will spotlight important news and issues in the series In Focus: Afganistan. We would like to hear your feedback on these issues as much as possible.

For the following question, please respond in the comments section below. We will feature select comments in a post on this site.

Inside the shade of a tribal hut in rural India, I am listening to Devudama tell her story in Telugu. Our translator sits between us with the neighbor's baby on her lap while the neighbor chats with a friend. The baby is busily gumming our translator's arm. Two dogs sleep in the sun, and children's clothing is drying on the slanted, low-hanging roof of the opposite hut.

Among the poorest countries in an embattled region absent from international headlines, the Central African Republic combats challenges of corruption and underdevelopment similar to those faced by its neighbors. A hotbed for sectarian violence, three civil wars ravaged the CAR in the past decade. Existing population security is credited predominately to UN aid and multilateral foreign assistance, creating a state essentially reliant on political life support.

This morning, David Westphal and Geoffrey Cowan gave a press briefing at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., to discuss their report "Public Policy and Funding the News." Westphal is executive in residence at the USC Annenberg School for Journalism and former Washington editor for McClatchy. Cowan is dean emeritus at Annenberg.

Mark Stanley, for the Pulitzer Center

While the idea of paying for high quality journalism content, as audiences have traditionally done with print newspapers, is intuitive to some, others have had mixed reactions to the Times' announcement.

Mark Stanley, Pulitzer Center

The worst earthquake to strike Haiti in 200 years rattled the country yesterday, leaving the infrastructure in shambles and thousands dead. The quake hit just as many believed Haiti was achieving some semblance of stability; relative political repose under President René Préval and heavy United Nations presence enabled economic growth and promised increased foreign investments.

Pulitzer Center grantees Jason Maloney and Kira Kay recently reported on these hopeful developments. In their project on fragile states, they write:

Mark Stanley, Pulitzer Center

Image by Jen Marlowe, Pulitzer Center grantee currently reporting from Sudan on the effectiveness of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement five years after it was signed.

Mark Stanley, Pulitzer Center

Since January 2006, when the Pulitzer Center was founded, we have sponsored over 100 in-depth international reporting projects on critical issues that would have otherwise gone uncovered in the US media.

Summer Marion, Pulitzer Center

(Editor's note: This is a new feature on Untold Stories, highlighting insightful, compelling, or just plain engaging, reporting that we've encountered as we search the Web. We hope to make the roundup a weekly feature -- and of course we welcome your comments and suggestions.)