By LINDSAY COOK
While other kids her age played with Barbie and GI Joe, Jennifer Borget watched CNN.
Her passion for broadcast journalism began in her hometown of Atlanta, where she said news was “big”. She loved watching reporters and the people they met, even before she was old enough to realistically become a reporter herself.
Borget, now a broadcast journalism major and senior at BYU, was recently named the recipient of the 2007 Ed Bradley scholarship from the Radio and Television News Directors Foundation.
Her hard work in high school and college paid off, literally – $10,000 worth. She also received an all-expense-paid trip to the association’s 2008 annual conference in Las Vegas where she will get an inside look at the latest broadcast technology.
Ed Bradley, a former 60 Minutes correspondent at CBS News, and a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Black Journalists, established the scholarship to assist minority students who pursue careers in electronic journalism.
Bradley felt it was very important to lend a helping hand to hard-working journalists following behind him. Although Bradley died in 2006, his wife Patricia continues to grant the award in his name.
“I heard that [Ed Bradley’s] wife had looked over my application and was really impressed,” Borget said. “Hearing that was an honor. They knew him better than anyone else and to know they chose me amongst other talented students is really an honor. I hope to one day start something like this [scholarship program] myself.”
The competition for the scholarship was vigorous and the requirements weren’t easy, but Borget said she recommends all college students look for scholarship opportunities and follow through with the process.
“There are so many scholarships out there for broadcast students and students in general, you just have to look for them,” she said. “It may seem like a lot of work, but you can’t expect to get it if you don’t try. Apply for as much as you can, have fun and get ahead of the game.”
For the rest of the year, Borget said she will remain focused and try to find a job as a reporter somewhere in the West, and hopefully make it back to Atlanta someday to be one of the reporters she admired years ago.
