Commercial Radio Australia is now accepting applications for the 2023 Brian White Scholarship, which awards a final year university student with an eight-week paid journalism internship at four of Australia’s radio newsrooms.
The scholarship is designed to help aspiring broadcast journalists from across Australia to gain a foothold in the industry through on the job experience working with the news teams at ARN, Nine Radio, Nova Entertainment and SCA.
The scholarship is named after radio broadcaster Brian White, Australian commercial radio’s first cadet journalist in 1953, who went on to cover wars in Vietnam and the Middle East, authored a book on politics and the media, served as general manager of 3AW in Melbourne and chaired the Fitzroy Football Club.
The paid internship will be in either Melbourne or Sydney and the scholarship includes travel and accommodation if the winner is not from either city.
Entries will be judged by a panel of commercial radio news directors, who will narrow applicants down to 10 finalists across two rounds of judging. The finalists will then attend a one-day workshop with the news directors in Sydney, where they will undertake a range of news tasks and develop their on-air presenting skills. From there, the scholarship recipient will be selected.
Ford Ennals, chief executive officer of CRA, said The Brian White Scholarship is a fantastic opportunity for young journalists who want to learn the craft of radio journalism.
"Ten finalists will learn from the best in the business while the winner will have two months of invaluable and paid experience at some of the best radio news rooms in the country," said Ennals.
“Australians rely on commercial radio as a key source of up-to-the-minute news which they can rely on. If you are a graduate or are about to graduate and have a passion for news and commercial radio, we encourage you to enter today."
Jessica Clancy, who was awarded the scholarship in 2022 and is now working full-time on the news desk at 2GB in Sydney, urged students with a passion for current affairs and an interest in radio to apply this year.
“Through the Brian White Scholarship, I gained practical industry experience and made important connections with news directors and journalists. Radio news reporting is a really exciting job. There’s nothing like being in on the action when news breaks,” Clancy said.
Final year broadcast, media, communications and journalism students and recent graduates can submit their applications from now through to midnight on Sunday 21 May 2023.
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