Trib seeks applicants for scholarships in journalism, business

Trib Total Media is looking for students to apply for its popular scholarship program, which this year is adding a business, marketing and technology component.

Trib Total Media’s Journalism Scholarship Program began in 2019 with the launch of the Jim Borden Memorial Scholarship in honor of Tribune-Review managing editor Jim Borden. In 2020, the Trib launched its Scholarship for Diversity in Media.

And now, in 2022, Trib Total Media is offering the Business, Marketing & Technology Scholarship.

“We launched our Scholarship Program in 2019 to encourage, develop and inspire the next generation of promising young journalists,” Trib Total Media President and CEO Jennifer Bertetto said. “You don’t have to be a writer to work for a media company. Through this new scholarship, we are offering an opportunity for students to learn and grow on the business side of our organization.”

The Trib Total Media Business, Marketing & Technology Scholarship is open to high school seniors or current college students from Western Pennsylvania with a major in business, marketing, computer science, or information technology, the company said.

Scholarship recipients will each receive up to $30,000 in scholarship funds awarded in annual installments of up to $7,500. The students are required to stay in the approved course of study through graduation and complete summer internships with Trib Total Media each year of the program.

Once they graduate, the students will receive an offer of full-time employment.

Tribune-Review reporter Julia Felton, 2020 recipient of the inaugural Jim Borden Memorial Scholarship, said the scholarship played an integral part in her ascension to the Pittsburgh City Hall beat.

“While I was in college I wrote for the college newspaper and did some things like that. But having the experience of actually working for a real newspaper ,and having the opportunity to go out and interview people, and go to press conferences and write real content that people read really gave me a much broader understanding of the field,” Felton said.

“It helped me to really refine my skills in a way that you really can’t do just in a classroom. So, by the time I graduated, I already knew exactly what to expect from the job (because) I had been doing the job for a year. I had some experience and kind of knew what I was doing, so I was really able to kind of hit the ground running in a way I would not have been able to do without that scholarship.”

Felton benefited from working alongside experienced, professional reporters.

“It was nice to have some experienced people to answer the silly questions that you have the first time you try something,” Felton said. “It was also cool to see how they worked. I overheard other people doing interviews and was like, ‘Wow, that was a really good question that they asked. I’ll have to remember that.’ Or you would hear how people would get sources to warm up to them and pick up on things that you don’t necessarily get from a text book.”

Applications are now being accepted for all three scholarships. Qualified applicants can apply online at https://tribtotalmedia.com/ under the Career & Scholarship Opportunities tab. The deadline to apply is Dec. 31, 2022.