MANILA, Philippines – Senior multimedia reporter Bea Cupin, who covers politics, defense, and diplomacy for Rappler, is among those selected for this year’s Jefferson Fellowship.
The program, run by the Honolulu-based East-West Center, is themed “Partnerships, Postures and Perils: Assessing East Asia Security and Economic Environments.” It will focus on “growing [concerns] about political and economic stability in the Indo-Pacific region in light of China’s aggressive behavior towards other claimants in the South China Sea and heightened tensions in the Taiwan Straits.”
The fellowship is the East-West Ceter’s flagship journalism program with an alumni network of over 740 individuals across the Asia Pacific and United States.
The fellowship aims to “enhance public understanding through the news media of issues in the United States and the Asia Pacific through a three-week dialogue, study, and travel program that focuses on a particular theme.”
This year’s fellows will visit the US, the Philippines, and Taiwan over three weeks in December for meetings and discussions with government officials, experts, and analysts from the US and across the region.
Cupin has been a journalist for over 13 years, 12 of them with Rappler, where she started as a social media producer. As a rookie reporter, she covered disasters, the national police, the interior department, and the 2016 presidential elections. From 2018 to 2021, Cupin was Rappler’s lifestyle and entertainment editor.
In late 2021, she returned to her roots as a news reporter for the site. She covered Malacañang in the first year of the Marcos government before moving to her current assignment — covering defense, diplomacy, and the West Philippine Sea for Rappler.
Cupin is one of two Filipino journalists who are part of this year’s cohort. One News business editor and anchor Regina Lay is also a Jefferson fellow for 2024.
Here is the full list of fellows for 2024:
- Charlie CHAU, deputy assignment editor (International News), Ming Pao, Hong Kong SAR
- Bea CUPIN, senior multimedia reporter, Rappler, Pasig City, Philippines
- Regina HING (Lay), anchor and business editor, One News (Cignal TV), Mandaluyong, Philippines
- Neha KHANNA, deputy editor and senior anchor, News9Live / TV9Network, Noida, India
- Min Zhang LIM, China correspondent, The Straits Times, Singapore
- Stevenson LIU, head of news, Vanuatu Broadcasting and Television Corporation, Port Villa, Vanuatu
- Tingting LIU, news anchor, chief foreign affairs and defense correspondent, TVBS Media, Taipei, Taiwan
- Mark MAGNIER, deputy bureau chief (North America), South China Morning Post, Brooklyn, USA
- Nga PHAM, reporter, Hanoi, Vietnam
- Charley PIRINGI, investigative journalist and co-founder, In-depth Solomons, Honiara, Solomon Islands
- Roni SATRIA, correspondent/affinity desk head, CNN Indonesia, Jakarta Selatan
- Ho Diep VU, journalist, Radio Voice of Vietnam, Hanoi, Vietnam
– Rappler.com