Aspiring Correspondents to Be Honored

Lionel Barber, editor of the Financial Times, will be the keynote speaker at the annual OPC Foundation Scholarship Luncheon on Friday, February 19, 2010, at the Yale Club. At the event, the Foundation will award $24,000 in scholarships to 12 graduate and undergraduate students aspiring to become foreign correspondents. The scholarship recipients who emerged from an incredibly competitive field of 200 applications from more than 63 colleges are from Columbia University, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, New York University, Northwestern University, Ryerson University (Toronto), Stanford University and the University of California-Santa Barbara. Learn more about the location and ticket information >>

The OPC Foundation scholarship program has grown dramatically in the last two decades and is now considered the most prominent scholarship program in the country for aspiring correspondents. The awards are given in the names of eminent journalists and media organizations. Besides addressing a distinguished audience of more than 200 luncheon guests, the scholarship winners also tour the Associated Press and meet with veteran international journalists in a pre-luncheon breakfast, hosted by Bill Holstein, OPC Foundation president. On the night before the luncheon, Reuters will host a special reception for the winners at its Time Square headquarters. For many, says Holstein, the opportunity to meet and observe prominent journalists in action is as valuable as any monetary awards.

Despite cutbacks in media jobs around the globe, the level of the enthusiasm and passion for journalism endures. Holstein noted, “At a time when the international reach of the U.S. news media has been dramatically curtailed, the interest among college students in becoming foreign correspondents has never been higher.” This year’s number of applications was the most ever received. Holstein was especially pleased to see an increase in the number of applicants interested in covering international business.

It is precisely to help these students jump-start their careers that the Foundation began and has now expanded its internship program. Begun in 2006 with one AP intern, the program in 2009 sent five interns — who are chosen from among the scholarship winners — to AP bureaus in Mexico City and Johannesburg, Reuters’ bureaus in Beijing and Istanbul, and to the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. The Foundation picks up the cost of the airfare and one month’s living expenses for the winners. Each of last year’s interns used their own funds to extend their stays to two and three months.

Holstein is especially pleased that Barber will be addressing this year’s winners. “He has led the FT through the same turbulence that has hit the American media, but he’s done a better job than most U.S. newspaper editors. He’s been able to maintain an international focus and gain readers, even while increasing the cost per issue,” he said. “The American media can learn from him.”

Since Barber was named editor in November 2005, the FT has been pioneering the concept of the integrated newsroom, where reporters and editors work seamlessly across print and digital formats. During his tenure, the FT has won numerous global awards for quality journalism, including three newspaper of the year awards in 2008. Barber began his career in journalism in 1978 as a reporter for The Scotsman. He moved to The Sunday Times as a business correspondent in 1981 and joined the FT in 1985. In 1986, he became a Washington correspondent and in 1992 was appointed Brussels bureau chief. He served as the news editor from 1998-2000 before taking over the continental European edition between 2000 and 2002, when he became U.S. managing editor in charge of the FT’s American editorial operations. Barber has co-written books and has lectured on U.S. foreign policy, transatlantic relations, European security and monetary union.

Holstein is grateful to the dedicated panel of judges who joined him on a brutally cold December morning to choose the 2010 recipients: OPC Foundation Board members Felice Levin, Jeremy Main, Rosalind Massow and Kate McLeod; and OPC Foundation Executive Board members Jackie Albert-Simon, Politique Internationale; Hannah Clark, Clinton Global Initiative; Jack Corporon; Allan Dodds Frank, OPC president; Sharon Gamsin, MasterCard; Sally Jacobsen, AP; Paul Mason; Steve Swanson; Karen Toulon, Bloomberg; and Brian Rhoads and Betty Wong, Reuters.

Luncheon tickets are $75 for OPC members and $100 for non-members. The Foundation encourages media and corporate support at its three levels of giving: Benefactors, $8,000, Patrons, $5,000 and Friends $2,000. Tables seat 10. The reception is at 11:30 a.m.; the luncheon ends promptly at 2 p.m. All proceeds benefit the OPC Foundation. For further information, contact Jane Reilly at 201-493-9087 or foundation@opcofamerica.org.