ABC Friends Victoria and the ABC are proud to announce the establishment of a Science Journalist Fellowship Program, an initiative within ABC’s Radio National Science unit.
Image: ABC Friends National President, Cassandra Parkinson, ABC managing director, Hugh Marks, and ABC Friends Victoria President, Pam Creed.
The fellowship will give a science journalist or content maker the opportunity to develop science programming for Radio National and the broader ABC network including digital platforms.
The fellowship was made possible by a generous donation to ABC Friends from Margaret Bales who was keen to support increased coverage of science programming by the ABC. The program was designed by a working group of Michael Henry and Pam Creed from ABC Friends Vic, Jonathan Webb (Head of ABC Science), and Gael Jennings (former ABC Science Reporter) in consultation with Ms Bales.
The ABC will sign an MOU agreement with ABC Friends Victoria, who will manage the project over 10 years and allocate funds to the ABC for each fellowship appointment.
“This is a wonderful example of how passionate supporters of public broadcasting can help champion its future,” said Pam Creed, the president of ABC Friends Victoria.
“We are proud to partner with the ABC to ensure this funding directly supports their high-quality science journalism, while meeting ABC Friends’ obligations as a tax deductible organisation,” she said.
ABC managing director, Hugh Marks, announced the project at the ABC Friends Victoria annual dinner on Friday 21 November.
“We're deeply grateful to Ms Bales for her extraordinary generosity and her passion for public broadcasting,” Mr Marks said.
“Her support will help ensure that science journalism continues to thrive at the ABC, informing and inspiring audiences across Australia.”
Congratulations to ABC Friends Victoria for facilitating this important initiative. We look forward to creating more such partnerships in the future.
Donations, of all sizes enable ABC Friends to fulfil its role of supporting our public broadcaster as a peerless creator of original Australian content.
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| A very big thank you to Margaret Bales. |