The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has awarded a $250,000 grant to the National Association of Broadcasters Leadership Foundation to enhance recruitment and training efforts. This funding boost will enrich NABLF’s collegiate initiatives and internships.
Key beneficiaries of the grant include participants of NABLF’s Media Sales Academy and Technology Apprenticeship Program. The MSA is designed to attract entry-level sales talent to broadcasting by equipping college students with essential industry skills, resources, and networks. Similarly, TAP offers technical training to prepare students for entry-level engineering and IT roles within radio and TV.
Graduates from TAP will be awarded membership and the Certified Broadcast Technologist certification from the Society of Broadcast Engineers, along with training and certification for AWS Cloud Practitioner.
NABLF President Michelle Duke commented, “We are grateful for the Knight Foundation’s generous support, which will allow the foundation to expand our industry recruitment efforts and provide more opportunities for the next generation of broadcasters… Their investment gives students in the Media Sales Academy and Technology Apprentice Program the chance to engage in real world application through paid internships and will prepare them for their future careers.”
Knight Foundation Director of Journalism Duc Luu said, “Knight Foundation is proud to support NABLF’s programs for diversifying the broadcasting industry… Broadcasters have a tremendous opportunity to inform and engage their communities if they reflect the true breadth of the audiences they serve. The students that will go through these programs will have unique opportunities to learn about the possibilities and challenges of rewarding careers in broadcasting, and that is due to the hard work and strategies that NABLF has put in place.”
