ASIA PACIFIC JOURNALISM INSTITUTE (APJI)
APJI organizes trainings, online and in-person seminars and other events for journalists based in the Asia Pacific region with a focus on religion reporting, storytelling and press freedom. APJI also moderates a regional community of journalists for ongoing discussions on contemporary issues, peer review of journalistic work and mentorship. In recent years, APJI has held journalism programs in India, Indonesia and the Philippines.
APJI Faculty
Dr. Paul Marshal
Paul Marshall is Wilson Professor of Religious Freedom at Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion, director of the Religious Freedom Institute’s South and Southeast Asia Action Team, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom and author of over 20 books on religion and politics.
Marshall is the author and editor of over twenty books on religion and politics, especially religious freedom, including Blind Spot: When Journalists Don't Get Religion (2009), Religious Freedom in the World (2008), Radical Islam's Rules: the Worldwide Spread of Extreme Sharia Law (2005), The Rise of Hindu Extremism (2003), Islam at the Crossroads (2002), God and the Constitution (2002), The Talibanization of Nigeria(2002), Massacre at the Millennium (2001), Religious Freedom in the World (2000), Egypt's Endangered Christians (1999), Just Politics (1998), Heaven is not My Home(1998), A Kind of Life Imposed on Man (1996), and the best-selling, award-winning survey of religious persecution worldwide Their Blood Cries Out (1997).
Jennifer Arul
Jennifer Arul, one of Chennai's best-known faces on television, has over 30 years of experience as a broadcast journalist and executive in India and parts of Southeast Asia. As Managing Editor and COO of NDTV Hindu she also set up Television Stations in Malaysia and Indonesia. Jennifer is known for her fierce reporting on various sensitive issues and relentlessly championing causes. She has travelled all over Tamil Nadu, other parts of India, and neighbouring countries, highlighting important news events and human-interest reports.
Beginning as a freelance reporter at Doordarshan and All India Radio, she then moved to NDTV, where she spent 25 years of her career. Jennifer has now returned to the TV screen, anchoring a popular interview based show called 'Going Beyond' on Good News Television. The programme reaches 180 million homes in English and other Indian languages. Jennifer has been a Board Member of The Media Project for over ten years and contributes articles to the web page as well as to the New Leader, India's leading Catholic magazine.
Vishal Arora
Arora, a New Delhi-based independent journalist with over 25 years of experience covering politics, religion, culture and foreign affairs in South and South-Asia. Published in The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Diplomat and many other media outlets, Arora is also a member of The Media Project Board.
LATEST:
The Media Project invites applications for a two-day residential training programme for journalists from South and Southeast Asia on “Covering Religion and Public Life in Asia,” to be held in Jakarta, Indonesia, from Sept. 10-11, 2026.
The training is intended for journalists with at least three years of professional experience who are interested in covering the role of religion in society, politics, culture and public life. Journalists who already report on religion or closely related subjects are especially encouraged to apply. The program will explore how religion influences public debates, communities, identities, conflict, peace-building, law, social change and everyday life across the region. Sessions will focus on helping journalists report on religion with depth, accuracy, fairness and intellectual clarity, while avoiding stereotypes, political simplifications and superficial coverage.
The training will bring together journalists from different countries, backgrounds and newsrooms for discussions, workshops and collaborative learning with senior journalists, scholars and resource persons.
Accommodation, meals and conference expenses during the program will be fully covered. Travel subsidies may also be available for deserving candidates.
SEJUK, (Journalists’ Association for Diversity) is our Indonesian partner for this training.
Deadline for applications was June 20, 2026
Selected participants will be informed by June 25, 2026.
For queries, please contact: Ms. Stacy Varghese at stacy@themediaproject.org