A $150,000 three-year grant from the MacArthur Foundation will bring two Latin American journalists to Harvard as Nieman Fellows next year.

"In 33 years of fellows there has been only one Hispanic," said Howard Simons, director of the Nieman Fellowship program. "We're trying to redress the imbalance."

Simons actively solicited the grant in an attempt to rectify the Hispanic under-representation. "We found the MacArthur Foundation sympathetic and empathetic," he said.

Latin America is not the only under-represented region among the scholars, Simons said. There have only been two Black African and two Arab journalists in the 35 years of the program. Simons said he has tried to find financial backing for these groups as well, but had less success.

Established in 1938 at Harvard in memory of Lucius W. Nieman, the founder of the Milwaukee Journal, the fellowships are intended to give journalists from around the world a chance to expand their intellectual perspectives. Simons said. While at Harvard, the fellows can take any of Harvard's courses.

The fellowship program also sponsors twice-weekly seminars for the fellows.

The money allocated through the MacArthur grant will go towards providing the two Latin American fellows with the funding for the year at Harvard, picking up where the fellowship leaves off.

Simons will select the Latin American fellows with the input and advice of American journalists that have worked in South America, he said.

"We are looking for promising young journalists that do a good job now and promise to do better work in the future," he said.

The remaining fellows will be chosen in late April by a selection committee composed of three academics, three journalists and Simons, who serves as the chairman.

The Nieman grant was carved out of $9.3 million worth of awards made by the International Peace and Security program of the Foundation, intended to encourage international collaborative research studies, public information programs, fellowships, and other special initiatives.