TFAS is pleased to introduce Alessandra Bocchi as the 2020 recipient of the third annual Joseph Rago Memorial Fellowship for Excellence in Journalism.
Born in Italy, Bocchi has worked in North Africa, Hong Kong and across Europe. She has reported on a breadth of issues including Islamist terrorist attacks, the migrant crisis and populist uprisings in Europe, and has also covered foreign policy issues in the United States. Throughout her career, Bocchi has worked for Arab, Italian and American newspapers.
As a Rago Fellow, Bocchi will work with the Opinion section of The Wall Street Journal through a nine-month internship.
The Fellowship is named in honor of Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial writer Joseph Rago, who was a rising star at The Wall Street Journal and a key member of its editorial page team before passing away at the age of 34 in 2017.
TFAS was chosen by the Rago Family, with the endorsement of the Journal, to establish the Fellowship in 2018 as a permanent remembrance of Joe’s contributions to journalism.
“This Fellowship has created and will continue to offer abundant opportunities for those who meet its high standards,” said Paul and Nancy Rago. “Our first two Fellows have succeeded through their talent, hard work and humility – the very same exemplary traits of the Fellowship’s namesake, our son, Joseph Rago.”
Bocchi will join former Fellows Elliot Kaufman and Matthew Taylor King in the path of continuing Joe’s legacy.
2019 Fellow Matthew Taylor King called the Fellowship “the best job in the world.”
“As an editor, I got to work, as Joe Rago did, with the best writers in the business–people like Dan Henninger, Walter Russell Mead, and Peggy Noonan,” King said. “As a writer, I get to call attention to the stories the media might otherwise miss–like the threat of ethnic conflict in Ethiopia and the remarkable life of a soldier who fought for Germany in World War I and Britain in World War II.”
The 2020 Rago Fellowship will be presented during the TFAS Journalism Awards Ceremony on Nov. 18, 2020, and details will be announced soon. Paul Gigot, editorial page editor and vice president of the Journal, will help honor the memory of his late colleague by providing remarks on Joe’s accomplishments and lasting impact. During the event, TFAS will also announce the 2020 Robert Novak Journalism Fellows.
To learn more about the event, please visit TFAS.org/JournalismDinner20.