23-year-old Filipina reporter Francisco Rose Regalado is named as the first winner of Nikkei and the Columbia Journalism School scholarship in New York for her outstanding academic achievement.
Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and Nikkei, Inc., the parent company of the news outlet Financial Times, announced today a $100,000 prize (over P5 million in Philippine peso) and a scholarship for Regalado, according to Columbia.edu.
Regalado graduated from a university in the United States with a degree in international relations. She then worked as an economics reporter for a Japanese newspaper in the US. According to Regalado, she plans to return to the Philippines to improve the quality of reporting in the country.
“My hope is that this scholarship will encourage Asian journalists like me to take a leap of faith and pursue journalism training at Columbia University, and ultimately raise the standards for journalism in our home region,” she said.
The newly established scholarship of Nikkei-Columbia provides $100,000 to one student from Asia each year. Winners return to their home country—for Regalado’s case, the Philippines—after graduation to help improve its journalism industry.
Note: Photo courtesy of Nikkei Asian Review
