The Center For Communication, International Radio and Television Society Foundation (IRTS) and Library of American Broadcasting Foundation (LABF) each received a gift from the Leibner Cooper Family Foundation celebrating talent agents Richard Leibner and Carole Cooper's devotion to media education, journalism and diversity.
Leibner and Cooper are co-presidents of Bienstock, a talent agency serving many of the biggest television news personalities, including Anderson Cooper, Megyn Kelly and Norah O’Donnell. Bienstock was acquired by United Talent Agency in 2014, but remains under the management of Leibner and Cooper.
“For more than four decades we have been so proud to play a role in such an important industry,” said Leibner. “We so much wanted to give back to an industry that has given so much to Carole and me.”
The Center for Communication will annually award the Carole Cooper and Richard Leibner Journalism Fellowship to a New York area college junior, senior, or graduate student. The Fellow will receive a monthly stipend, intern at the Center for Communication during the course of the school year, and participate in opportunities that provide engagement with other media organizations. This year’s Fellow will be announced at the Center’s Frank Stanton Award Luncheon November 2.
“We are so pleased that Carole and Richard have honored us with this generous gift,” said J. Max Robins, executive director of the Center for Communication. “This is right in step with our shared commitment to promoting diversity in our industry.”
The IRTS Foundation has named one of its nine-week, expenses-paid summer fellowships in honor of the family. Selected through a national college competition open to multicultural journalism students, the IRTS Leibner Cooper Summer Fellow receives travel, housing, a paid internship and a one-week orientation to the media industry. The inaugural recipient is Jackson Kurtz of the University of Kansas.
The LABF, in partnership with the Broadcast Education Association (BEA), will annually award The Leibner Cooper Grant for Creative Productions on the History of Media. The grant will provide support to a faculty member who is producing a documentary, news story, multimedia project or sports production focused on historical issues, figures and/or events related to media. Grant recipients will be recognized during BEA’s annual convention in Las Vegas.
“We applaud the Leibner Cooper family’s dedication to educating the next generation. It is a great privilege for each organization to play a role in their special legacy,” said Joyce Tudryn, IRTS president/CEO and LABF board director.
