10/21/2026
Please join us on Wednesday, November 11th at 11:30AM in the Koessler Room at the Michigan League for the DHRC's November panel focusing on Human Rights Reporting: Stories from the Field. Tanzil Asif, Erica Hellerstein, and Shan Li, three of this year's Knight-Wallace Fellows, will discuss their experiences covering human rights stories in China, Ukraine, India, and Latin America, as well as challenges they faced in reporting these stories. The panelists will offer comparative insights from their field experiences and lessons for all of us seeking to better understand how journalists navigate risks and conduct investigations in often precarious contexts.
Can't attend in person? Click on the link below to register to watch the livestream.
https://myumi.ch/ykJ4P
About the Speakers
Tanzil Asif
Founder, Main Media
Tanzil Asif is an Indian journalist and founder of the Bihar-based hyperlocal news platform, Main Media. His work includes video reporting and writing on a wide range of issues, including politics, climate change, systemic development, and the marginalization of minorities, including India's Muslim minority. He has contributed to outlets such as Al Jazeera, The Hindu, The Wire, The Quint, Outlook Magazine and BehanBox.
Erica Hellerstein
Immigration and Labor Reporter, El Tímpano
Erica Hellerstein is the senior immigration and labor reporter at El Tímpano, an outlet serving the Bay Area's Latino and Mayan immigrants. Previously, she spent more than a decade reporting on human rights across the U.S., Latin America, Africa and Europe, investigating labor exploitation, gender-based violence, rising authoritarianism and the surveillance state. In 2025, she reported from Ukraine on her hidden family history and how Jewish Ukrainian identity is evolving amid Russia's invasion.
Shan Li
South Asia Correspondent, Wall Street Journal
Shan Li is the South Asia correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, covering politics, culture and economic issues in India and the surrounding region. She previously served as China correspondent for The Journal, reporting on the global influence of Chinese tech companies and the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic from Wuhan. She and other colleagues had their press credentials revoked and were expelled from China by the Chinese government in 2020.
About the Moderator
Lynette Clemetson
Director, Wallace House Center for Journalists
Lynette Clemetson is Director of Wallace House Center for Journalists, home of the Knight-Wallace Fellowships for Journalists and the Livingston Awards for Young Journalists at the University of Michigan. She came to the university from NPR, where she was Senior Director of Strategy and Content Initiatives. Her career in journalism spans newspapers, magazines and audio across a range of platforms. As a reporter, she was a Washington-based correspondent for The New York Times and Newsweek. Prior to her domestic correspondent work, she was an international correspondent for Newsweek based in Hong Kong.
Cosponsors:
University of Michigan International Institute
University of Michigan Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies
Center for South Asian Studies at U-M
University of Michigan Global Islamic Studies Center
University of Michigan Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia
Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies, University of Michigan
Wallace House Center for Journalists
