Steve Hewlett Scholarship
The RTS will award one to two exceptional applicants from the Television Production and Journalism bursary submissions a ‘Steve Hewlett Scholarship.’ This entitles the scholar(s) to all the additional perks of the TV Production Bursary, but with a financial contribution of £2500 per academic year and additional support, mentoring and opportunities from the Steve Hewlett Memorial Fund. All TV Production and Journalism applicants who express an interest in documentary, journalism or current affairs can be considered for this award.
About Steve Hewlett
Steve Hewlett was a documentary filmmaker, programme editor, television executive, media commentator, newspaper columnist, television presenter and Radio 4 broadcaster. He was above all, a journalist: a forensic, passionate, fearless storyteller with a talent for communicating the most complex of stories in the most accessible way.
After graduating from Manchester University, he began his career as a freelance researcher working on BBC programmes Panorama and Nationwide. When Channel 4 was created in 1982 Steve joined its new alternative news show The Friday Alternative. The programme tore up the rule book that bound conventional current affairs television. He then returned to the BBC where he directed many award-winning documentaries including “Bloody Sunday” and “The Maze - Enemies Within” , made with unprecedented access to the maximum-security prison.
Steve went on to become editor of BBC documentary strand Inside Story before being appointed editor of Panorama, where in 1995 the programme received the highest TV ratings ever recorded for a factual programme with the interview with HRH Princess Diana. Over 22 million people tuned in. After becoming head of factual programmes at Channel 4 and director of programmes at Carlton TV Steve began to carve out a role as one of the UK’s leading media commentators with a column in the Guardian and the presenter ofRadio 4’s The Media Show. With his own company Genie Pictures, he began to present documentaries including Rupert Murdoch’s Battle with Britain and Reinventing the Royals.
After being diagnosed with cancer in 2016 Steve documented the impact of the disease through a series of candid interviews with Eddie Mair on Radio 4’s PM programme. It connected with listeners in a way that nobody had expected and he continued to record these interviews until his death in February 2017.
Steve also chaired the Sheffield Documentary Festival and was a visiting professor at Salford University.
Click here to find out more about the RTS Television Production Bursary, or click below to donate to the Steve Hewlett Memorial Fund.
