Nixon Kariithi, the Spring 2015 Ratner visitor, has for many years  trained business journalists in East Africa. He held the Pearson Chair of Economics Journalism at Rhodes University and also taught at the University of the Witwatersrand, both in South Africa.

Kariithi has contributed to Nieman Reports at Harvard University and the Rhodes Journalism Review. He is the founder and chief executive of Tangaza Media Africa, a consulting and training firm in South Africa.

Kariithi co-authored Untold stories: Economics and business journalism in African media, with Peter Kareithi, Kariithi’s brother, in 2005, and has written extensively about media and business journalism in Africa. 

The Ratner Distinguished Visiting Business Journalist Program brings a distinguished visitor each semester to Baruch College’s Department of Journalism and the Writing Professions.

Created with a gift from Forest City Ratner Companies and its founder and executive chairman Bruce Ratner, the program enables journalists to spend a week in residence, speaking in classes, mentoring students and meeting with the staff of Dollars & Sense, the department’s award-winning online magazine.

Forest City Ratner‘s major New York institutions include The New York Times Building and the Barclays Center.