Media and Journalism Student Wins Overseas Press Club Foundation Award
February 18, 2019
Hussman School of Media and Journalism
Master’s student Sarah Champagne ’20 has won the 2019 S&P Global Award for Economic and Business Reporting, a scholarship provided by the Overseas Press Club Foundation for students specifically interested in financial journalism. The Foundation was created in 1939 to support international journalism through internships and scholarships for students.
A freelance reporter, Champagne has reported stories of migrations, politics, gender, social issues, trade and the environment from 13 countries on four continents. Her submission to the S&P Global award is a story about a lawsuit initiated by 11 Guatemalan Maya women against a Canadian mining company.
“Today, business journalism is a tremendous way to make people care about what happens far from their home, either as workers, consumers, shareholders or managers,” Champagne said. “It is just one example of how important business journalism is to understand the impact of international operations abroad, an impact at times very positive or very negative.”
Champagne is affiliated with the Duke-UNC Rotary Peace Center — a cross-university collaboration between UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke University that trains its fellows to make a difference in world peace and conflict resolution in their future. Prior to coming to Carolina for her master’s in media and communication, Champagne was a reporter for seven years. She intends to use the scholarship as a support to broaden her perspectives.
The scholarship is endowed by S&P Global to the OPC Foundation. Scholars have a knowledge of finance and business and wish to improve the reporting and comprehension of international investing and business. S&P Global is a leader in financial information and analysis, including credit rating, risk assessment and market analytics. Affiliated with the Overseas Press Club, the OPC Foundation is a 501(C)(3) charitable organization that seeks to advance the quality of international journalism.
The award ceremony will be held at the Yale Club in New York City on Friday, Feb. 22. All scholarship recipients will have the opportunity to join in panels and network with editors, journalists and former OPC Foundation winners.