Sky News special correspondent Alex Crawford will next month deliver the annual Bob Friend Memorial Lecture at the University of Kent.

Alex has won the coveted Royal Television Society Television Journalist Of The Year Award three times – an unprecedented achievement. She was awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours. Her lecture is called: Alex Crawford: A Reporter’s Story.

The lecture is free and open to the public on a first come, first serve basis. It will take place at the Pilkington Lecture Theatre, Medway campus, University of Kent at 7pm on Tuesday, 21 February.

The evening will also see Rob Kirk, Editorial Development Manager for Sky News, present a first-year student at the University’s Centre for Journalism with the 2012 Sky Bob Friend Memorial Scholarship.

Both the lecture and scholarship were established in 2009 in memory of Bob Friend, who was the original face of Sky News as well as a long-serving BBC journalist.

The scholarship is awarded to a student who has demonstrated outstanding academic and professional merit and shows great potential for a future career in journalism. The winning student will have his or her first year tuition fees paid and are guaranteed a four-week expenses-paid placement at Sky News later in the year.

Professor Tim Luckhurst, Head of the Centre for Journalism, said: “The Sky Bob Friend Memorial Scholarship is among the most prestigious prizes available to undergraduate students of journalism. Staff and students in the Centre for journalism are delighted that Alex Crawford has agreed to deliver this important lecture."

‘Alex is an inspiration to many aspiring journalists and a particularly good role model for women seeking to reach the top of the profession.’

Rob Kirk said: ‘This partnership between Sky News and the University of Kent is now in its fourth year and has provided wonderful opportunities for young journalists at the start of their careers. As a man of Kent, Bob would have approved. And as a seasoned journalist, he would have been proud of Alex.’

Bob Friend joined Sky News at its launch 22 years ago and quickly became the face of the new channel. In his 14 years with Sky News he won a glowing international reputation for his warmth, intelligence and humour, winning a number of awards for his presenting skills.

He died in October 2008 and is survived by his wife Marion and their two daughters. The annual lecture and scholarship were established by a partnership of the Friend family, Sky News and the University of Kent.

Previous Bob Friend Memorial Lectures were delivered by John Ryley, Head of Sky News; Mark Thompson, Director-General of the BBC, and Channel 4 News Presenter Jon Snow.

Members of the public wishing to attend the lecture are asked to email journalism@kent.ac.uk to reserve a place.

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