Eligibility: Applicants must be college juniors, seniors or graduate students who have graduated from high school in Middle Tennessee and have chosen journalism or broadcast news as a career or mid-career working journalists who seek training to develop professionally or further their careers.
Drue Smith was the first woman to join the Middle Tennessee Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and was the first woman to become its chapter president. Drue was considered the queen of Tennessee’s legislative press corps and was the first woman to cover Nashville’s Capitol Hill as well as being the first honorary member of the Tennessee General Assembly. She was colorful in many ways, from her clothes to her style. Asking her famous question, “What’s the bottom line?” she reported for print, radio, television, and United Press International in her 50-year career. This Fund was established in memory of Drue upon her death in 2001 by the members and board of the Middle Tennessee Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.
