MD Istiak, student of Law at Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB), has been selected for the CNN Academy Fellowship program “Voices From the South”, to be held at Yas Creative Hub, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, from November 17–22, 2025.

Conducted by CNN Academy, the 15-day fellowship will provide intensive training for young early-career journalists and storytellers from the Global South through workshops, mentoring, and real-time reporting simulations focused on global health storytelling.

The program aims to train and empower emerging voices from the Global South by providing practical journalism skills, amplifying underrepresented perspectives, promoting ethical reporting, and encouraging cross-cultural collaboration.

It received more than 10,800 applications from 129 countries. Selected participants will engage in training, guided mentorship from CNN journalists, networking with peers and media professionals, and practical reporting exercises leading to a final project. CNN Academy is the learning and development arm of CNN, a global media organization owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.

In 2025, Istiak represented IUB at an international hackathon in Colombo, Sri Lanka, held from January 7–10. He also served as a student editor at the 2nd IUB Undergraduate Law Students’ Research Conference 2025. Alongside his studies, he is working at Dhaka Stream, a newspaper in development, which combines his legal education with professional practice in journalism.

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