SEPTEMBER 7, 2026 – Today we rushed home from the cabin to attend the welcoming reception for this year’s crop of WPI Fellows—“WPI” being shorthand for “World Press Institute.” Founded over 60 years ago here in St. Paul, WPI produces an annual fellowship program for foreign journalists interested in learning about American news media and the country itself, as well as about issues on the cutting edge of their profession. Each year’s class typically numbers 10, but because of insurmountable hurdles erected by our State Department, this year’s group is limited to eight—representing Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, China, Ethiopia, Finland, India and Italy.
After a week of orientation and meetings here in the Twin Cities, the fellows will embark on a nine-week whirlwind tour of Minnesota, then of the United States, with stops at major media outlets, and interactions with numerous associations and think tanks along the way. At the end of October, they’ll return to Minnesota for various public fora and debriefings and stay through Election Day. Following a send-off banquet with host families, WPI staff and others, on November 8, the fellows will disperse back to their home countries.
At a time when our body politic grapples with its polarity and we struggle to understand the causes of this divide, these highly trained and already accomplished young journalists can provide a fresh perspective. During the welcoming event, each of the fellows gave an introduction and summarized the goals of participation. Universally, these smart, observant, eager and articulate outsiders expressed a desire to understand America better. We Americans present responded with spontaneous and telling laughter that reflected our matching desire.
Another common theme among the journalists—as it is for all professions today—was the earnest study of AI and its implications for how information is gathered, synthesized, organized and reported.
Neither AI nor the stubborn polarization of America was an issue when any of us Americans at the event first got involved with WPI. Yet here we are, in late 2026, all trying to navigate in a brave new world. Every generation has the challenge of such a world, but by many objective standards, the world is getting braver and newer than ever before—faster than ever before. This year’s WPI Fellows will have a front row seat. We eagerly await their observations and analyses.
The event was well attended, and our hosts, Larry Schaefer and Toni Halleen, perennially generous, gracious and enthusiastic supporters of WPI, extended their custom of making everyone welcome immediately. Host families, WPI staff, program participants and board members—all have become deeply committed to the cause of a free press uncowed by authoritarian efforts to curtail media critical of those very efforts. As always at this annual event, conversations were as animated as they are rewarding. Yet, it was reminiscent of my 50th college class reunion, which seemed like a series of 20-second truncated conversations, also lively and rewarding despite their brevity but leaving us all pining for more.
No one knows what November’s elections will bring. We must brace for the worst but hope that a majority of the electorate comes to its senses. A democratic nation and society, however, isn’t defined solely by elections. A robust democracy depends for its health on many things outside politics. Ensuring a free press, harboring diverse ideas, and interacting with people from around the world—these are of the hallmarks of a democratic society with the chops to survive its self-inflicted wounds. Since 1961 WPI has stood at the vanguard of these very hallmarks. At today’s event, it was a bright shining beacon for democracy.
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© 2026 by Eric Nilsson
