Seven West Media has announced the establishment of the David Leckie Seven Scholarship Program in memory of its former chief executive officer, the late David Leckie.
The annual program, which has been set up in conjunction with Skye Leckie and David and Skye’s sons Harry and Ben, offers a 12-month scholarship at Seven West Media for a junior graduate with a passion for sales, programming, or news.
Applications open in January 2022 and the successful applicant will start in March. Applications will be judged by Skye, Harry and Ben Leckie, and senior Seven West Media executives.
Skye, Harry, and Ben Leckie said: “David’s passion in life was television, from the time he joined GTV Melbourne as managing director, to his role as CEO at TCN and then as CEO of Seven Network.
“He was never happier than when he was working in TV. David had an innate ability to understand what Australians wanted to watch. He also loved working across sales and management. He always said he learnt a lot from his fellow executives at Seven and from all the staff, whom he held in very high regard.
“David was passionate about Seven and about media. We are thrilled that his legacy will live on at his beloved Seven and we would like to thank Kerry Stokes and James Warburton for recognising David and his talents in this way,” they said.
“Despite his ‘bluff’, we know Davo would be very, very chuffed to have this scholarship created in his honour and he would love the idea of giving a young person such a great start in the media industry.”
Seven West Media managing director and chief executive officer, James Warburton, said: “We lost a very good friend and a very talented media executive with the passing of David in July this year.
“David was a great mentor and colleague to many of us at Seven and we miss him a lot. We wanted to find a way to honour his legacy and memory, and we believe the David Leckie Seven Scholarship Program does that.
“David made an enormous contribution to Seven and to the media industry in general, and this annual program is a fantastic opportunity for someone who wants to learn, grow and become a leader of our industry.”
Further details about the David Leckie Seven Scholarship Program will be announced soon.