SIFC winner - CBC scholarship awarded

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A member of the Okanese First Nation is one of eight young Canadians to receive a prestigious journalism scholarship from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Connie Walker, a student at Saskatchewan Indian Federated College, will receive one of eight Joan Donaldson Newsworld Scholarships offered by CBC Newsworld.

Walker gets a four-month summer job working at CBC Halifax, which started May 1, along with a $2,000 award.

"Journalism is a really exciting field," Walker said. "It's very important to have more Aboriginal people in journalism."

All eight winners - one each from Canada's university level journalism programs - were determined on the merits of their resumes, academic records, an essay and an interview.

The 21-year-old student is enrolled at the Indian Communications (INCA) program at Saskatchewan Indian Federated College. She is also working towards a bachelor's degree in psychology at the University of Regina.

Over the summer, Walker and other scholarship recipients will get a crash course in television news - learning or refining skills such as researching, chase production, script handling operating, and working in a television control room. They will also join crews on location to better understand how a field operation works.

The Joan Donaldson Newsworld Scholarship honors Donaldson, the first person to head Canada's first all-news cable channel. A CBC journalist and instructor at Ryerson Polytechnic Institute in Toronto, Donaldson was seriously injured in a 1990 accident that left her unable to continue her career.