ABC Managing Director, Russell Balding, has announced the winner of the eighth Andrew Olle Scholarship. The award will be presented at the annual Olle lecture and dinner tomorrow (Friday 29 October).
The scholarship has been awarded to 24 year old Alice Brennan, a producer and program maker for ABC Local Radio on the NSW mid north/north coast.
Brennan has also worked on ABC Local Radio morning programs – New England, North West and Riverina. As well, she has also been a freelance journalist for Triple J’s morning and ‘Hack’ programs.
In making the announcement, Balding has paid tribute to Brennan: “I congratulate Alice on winning the esteemed award this year.
“The Andrew Olle Scholarship is a wonderful opportunity for a young journalist to be able to develop their skills. It will provide Alice with valuable opportunities to work with leading ABC journalists within Australia and possibly abroad.
“As always, the standard of applications for this year’s scholarship was incredibly high – it is a credit to Alice’s varied and interesting story ideas that the panel was able to single her out as the winner.
“One of the qualities which set Alice apart from the others was the depth and range of the story ideas she put forward. We look forward to them coming to life on the ABC airwaves.”
Brennan will begin her scholarship later this year.
The ABC founded the Andrew Olle Scholarship in 1996 to commemorate the life and work of the esteemed journalist, broadcaster and program-maker.
Andrew Olle was born in 1947 and joined the ABC in Brisbane in November 1967 as a news cadet. He spent the next 28 years developing his skills as a journalist by working in a wide variety of programs. He died suddenly of an inoperable brain tumour almost nine years ago at the age of 47.
Olle was the consummate professional throughout his career in radio and tv. He was a perfectionist and a resolute champion for truth and accuracy. Above all, however, it was his compassion and profound sense of social justice which were the hallmarks of his career as a journalist, broadcaster and filmmaker.
The Scholarship is designed to honour Olle by creating career development opportunities for young ABC journalists and to promote the values which epitomised his journalism.