Foreign Correspondent producer wins ABC scholarship

A senior producer at Foreign Correspondent has been announced as the winner of the 2011 Donald McDonald ABC Scholarship.

Greg Wilesmith will join the Reuters Institute of Oxford program which brings together journalists from around the world to further develop their skills.

Wilesmith has been with ABC News for more than 25 years, serving as the ABC’s Middle East Correspondent, reporting on the Gulf War and as Europe Correspondent, reporting on the Kosovo war in  and NATO’s war against Yugoslavia.

During his Oxford studies, he will research how the governments of the United States, UK and Australia were influenced by media coverage of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, examining the problems and challenges long running wars present for major news organisations and the issues surrounding “embedding” news staff within military forces.

ABC Managing Director Mark Scott said, “The extensive experience Greg brings both as a senior journalist and foreign correspondent at the ABC places him in a unique position to research this topic. The insights he will gain in examining the issues surrounding the challenges of independent reporting in wartime conflicts will be of great value to the ABC.”

ABC has awarded a Donald McDonald Scholarship to a journalist every year since 1999.