CNN US president Jim Walton made the announcement on behalf of CNN’s more than 4,000 employees during the 2005 World Report Conference in Atlanta and in conjunction with the cable news network’s 25th anniversary.

The announcement comes as CNN prepares to celebrate 10 years of its longest-standing international initiative for journalists, the annual CNN Multichoice African Journalist of the Year Award, which takes place on 25 June in Nairobi. CNN will also announces a series of new CNN Journalist Awards in Germany, Brazil and pan-Latin America, to complement its existing initiatives to support journalism around the world. This will sit alongside existing Journalist and Student Awards in India and Korea.

Walton said, “CNN prides itself on being the world’s news leader, providing news to more people in more places than any other news organisation. But news organisations are only as strong as their journalists, and it is imperative that the diversity of our journalists reflects the diversity of the world they cover. This donation will help ensure that diversity, by directly supporting the efforts of three outstanding organizations that encourage minority journalism students.”

CNN’s previously mentioned $1 million donation, which will be evenly split among the three organisations, will be used to create a CNN25 Scholars Programme. Rigorous criteria for scholarships would likely require demonstrated journalistic excellence, consistent with the values of CNN, and a commitment to community involvement.

CNN is also a long-standing supporter of the Rory Peck Foundation, and the International News Safety Institute (INSI). Last year it announced a new three year bursary, to the Nairobi-based Mohamed Amin Foundation’s Television Training Centre. This provides an annual scholarship to the Centre, which was founded in honour of the late award-winning cameraman and .producer Mohamed Amin, who died in a plane crash in 1996.