BOSTON -- WCVB-TV/DT Channel 5 and Boston University officially announced Friday the creation of the Natalie Salatich Jacobson Broadcast Journalism Internship and Jim Thistle News Management Internship at Boston University.

The internships/scholarships are funded by initial donations from WCVB and its parent company, Hearst-Argyle Television.

A check for $15,000 was presented by WCVB-TV/DT President Bill Fine to Tobe Berkovitz, Interim Dean of The College of Communications.

The internships/scholarships will honor Jacobson, who transitioned off the anchor desk earlier this year to launch a multimedia venture, and Thistle, a former News Director at WCVB.

The internship honoring Jacobson will be awarded to a student pursuing a career as an on-air reporter. The recipient of the Thistle internship will be an aspiring producer/news manager. The two students selected annually will spend the summer working in WCVB’s newsroom. The students will be chosen based on their academic record, determination and ambition to excel. The internship will come with a stipend and give the students the ability to do reporting and producing under the supervision of the WCVB staff.

Jacobson joined WCVB in 1972, weeks before the station went on-air. She rose from reporter to the first woman anchor of an evening newscast in Boston. In her storied tenure at Channel 5, Jacobson, known as “Nat” to viewers, has anchored nearly every live major event in New England including the Queen’s visit to Boston in 1976, the Tall Ships Parade, Liberty’s birthday in New York Harbor, the visits of Nelson Mandela, Pope John Paul II, 4th of July concerts on the Hatch Shell/Esplanade, the dedication of the JFK Library, the Patriots appearances in various Super Bowls and the year of the Red Sox in 2004.

One of the most respected and admired journalists in Boston broadcasting history, Thistle has held leadership posts in newsrooms across the city, including several stints in political and special events producer roles and an eight year tenure as News Director at WCVB. He is now a Professor of Journalism at Boston University and a frequent commentator and analyst on news media issues for local and national outlets.

In addition to presenting the scholarship donation, WCVB will donate portions of its standard definition news set. Earlier this year WCVB debuted a new, state-of-the art studio when it became the first station in New England to broadcast its newscasts in high definition. BU plans to use the set in its broadcast journalism program, the campus wide BUTV 10, as well as student news magazine productions.