The Clare Atkinson Memorial Scholarship awarded to Chantelle Bringas
The University of Queensland has awarded Chantelle Bringas as the first recipient of The Clare Atkinson Memorial Scholarship.
Bringas, a student based in Queensland, will now travel to Sydney for three weeks of work experience at the ABC.
Bringas is the first recipient of the new scholarship
The scholarship was created in December last year in memory of Atkinson, who was both a journalist and UQ alumni.
Amazon’s content director Shannon Molloy launched the scholarship in memory of his friend, who had worked across titles including ABC, SBS, The Guardian and Huffington Post. She passed away in June 2016 following a battle with a rare liver cancer.
Molloy thanked the community, friends and colleagues for their support in building the scholarship over the last nine months. He added Bringas perfectly embodied Atkinson’s qualities, namely her ambition, tenancy and passion.
“The selection committee was unanimous in their decision. I am so thrilled that she is the very first recipient of the Clare Atkinson Memorial Scholarship, which will give her a great head start in her journalism career and help to preserve the legacy of my friend, an accomplished journalist that the industry lost far too soon,” Molloy said.
“I was so blown away by the quality of applications we received. I am hugely reassured that the future of media in Australia is in very good hands.”
On receiving the scholarship, Bringas added: “I’m very grateful to have this received this opportunity to advance my career platform, but also very humbled to be chosen to contribute to the memory of Clare Atkinson and her work.”
