Vol. 24, No. 9	November 13, 1998

J-School Gift from CBS Creates Fred Friendly Scholarships

By Kim Brockway

CBS will honor the memory of former CBS News President and Columbia Journalism School Professor Fred W. Friendly by establishing a scholarship program at Columbia and supporting an industry-wide effort to endow a new faculty position focusing on media and society, the Graduate School of Journalism announced recently.

"We are honored that CBS has chosen to celebrate Fred Friendly's distinguished career by encouraging the next generation of journalists and supporting exceptional teaching," Journalism Dean Tom Goldstein said. "This gift will ensure Fred's legacy at Columbia, where he taught and inspired young journalists to attain high standards of ethical public service."

One portion of the gift will support scholarships for five promising students, enrolled in the broadcast concentration at the Journalism School, from each class for the next five years. The first CBS/Fred Friendly Scholars began their studies last month, and will meet with CBS News President Andrew Heyward and other CBS News correspondents and executives during the semester.

The other portion will help endow the Fred W. Friendly Professorship in Media and Society, a new faculty position at the School.

"Fred holds a special place in the history of CBS News and we are proud to honor his many contributions by supporting the endowment and creating a scholarship program that will engage students, faculty and broadcast journalism professionals in an ongoing examination of our business and its responsibilities," Heyward said. "We look forward to meeting the first CBS/Fred Friendly Scholars. Their backgrounds are very impressive."

The 1998 CBS/Fred Friendly Scholars are:

€ LaNeice Collins, a graduate of UC-Berkeley, holds a degree in mass communications and American studies. She has worked as an intern for ABC News' Nightline and the FOX News affiliate KTVU, and has written for the Daily Californian, the university's student newspaper, focusing on relations between the Berkeley campus and the nation's capitol. Collins also contributes to the monthly newsletter of the California Army National Guard, in which she holds the rank of specialist.

€ Dalia Dangerfield graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in broadcast journalism and international relations. She covered housing and homeless issues at the Chicago Defender, reported and co-produced for CNN's Emmy Award-winning newscast Impact, and interned at the Orange County News Channel, KCBS-TV, KABC-TV and E! Entertainment Television.

€ Kerry Donahue received a B.A. in English literature from Oberlin. She has been a reporter, engineer and guest host of WMPG-FM's award-winning public affairs call-in radio show Big Talk. Donahue also provided case management services to mentally ill adults at a residential center in Portland, Me., and was a volunteer coordinator at Caring Unlimited, a domestic violence program in Sanford, Me.

€ Marcia Feaster received a degree in television production from Howard and interned on NBC's Meet the Press. She has worked at several Washington, D.C., law firms and served as a peer counselor/educator for victims of sexual abuse and substance abuse.

€ Joshua Holbreich received his B.A. in English from Cornell, where he was an arts and entertainment editor and a writer for the Cornell Daily Sun. He worked at the William Morris Agency, assisting agents representing authors of fantasy, science fiction and mass-market thrillers. He also interned at ABC News' World News Tonight, PrimeTime Live and Entertainment Weekly magazine.

Fred Friendly, well known as the producer of Edward R. Murrow's See It Now series in the 1950s and as the president of CBS News in the 1960s, died earlier this year. He created and hosted the Seminars on Media and Society broadcast on PBS when he was a professor at Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism in the 1970s and '80s. The popular programs challenged leaders- including journalists, judges and government officials-to grapple with national issues and media ethics.

Friendly, who was widely regarded as an exemplar of integrity in television news, tirelessly encouraged the broadcasting industry not just to entertain people but to educate them.