Lutfi Dervishi

Content created by Virtual Intern  Kristin Mitra

Prior to his visit to the United States in 2002, Lutfi Dervishi was working as the Editor-in-Chief at "Albania," a newspaper in Tirana. When he came to the U.S., he participated in an International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) titled, "U.S. Foreign Policy Structures," during which he developed a stronger interest in U.S. foreign policy, especially as it relates to the Balkans. Dervishi describes the impact IVLP had on his career as "immense in a different way," noting that the experience magnified his interest in and understanding of foreign policy.

After his return, Dervishi began working in public television, where he organized a series of talk shows about U.S.-Albania relations and dispelled existing rumors regarding American foreign policy. He is now one of Albania's leading media experts and helps mold future journalists as a professor at the University of Tirana in Albania's most prominent journalism program. His influence doesn't stop at the university level; Dervishi is a founding member of the U.S. Embassy-supported Investigative Journalism Lab, which focuses on teaching transparency and investigative journalism skills to aspiring young journalists.

Through his teaching and experiences, Lutfi Dervishi has improved the quality of Albanian journalism and built a more transparent way to keep citizens informed.

Edited by Virtual Interns Regina Navarro-Gomez and Kristin Mitra