Atkinson Fellowship in Public Policy accepting applications

The Atkinson Charitable Foundation, the Honderich Family and the Toronto Star are launching their annual search for an experienced journalist who is ready to pursue a one-year, in-depth examination of an emerging or challenging public policy issue.

The Atkinson Charitable Foundation, the Honderich Family and the Toronto Star are launching their annual search for an experienced journalist who is ready to pursue a one-year, in-depth examination of an emerging or challenging public policy issue.

For more than 25 years, the Atkinson Fellowship in Public Policy has contributed to public discourse and policy innovation. Named for Joseph E. Atkinson, who was at the helm of the Toronto Star for nearly five decades, the Fellowship stands for the importance of investigative journalism in Canada, how it sustains democracy, and how it leads to policy solutions. It recognizes the relationship between the practice of journalism and the work of social change.

Apply Now

The Atkinson Fellowship in Public Policy is open to Canadian journalists working in print, broadcast and online media. It provides a one-year research stipend of $75,000 and up to $25,000 for expenses beginning September 1, 2014, and culminates in a series of published articles in the Toronto Star in the Fall of 2015.

The Fellowship Selection Committee is looking for journalists whose investigative goals align with the Foundation’s mission. Eligible journalists are invited to submit a three-page letter of intent and curriculum vitae to fellowship@atkinsonfoundation.ca. The successful candidate will have demonstrated the greatest potential to shed light on an important issue and to propose policy alternatives.

The deadline for submissions is February 14, 2014.

Get Involved

Please help get the word out. Post this information on your website or circulate it through your communications channels. Encourage a journalist whose work you admire to submit a proposal. Information for prospective candidates is available on the Atkinson Foundation’s website.

“Journalists think of the Atkinson Fellowship as a gift of time, an invitation to step outside their normal routines to take a sounding of a pressing public issue. We think of it as an investment in policy innovation.”

Colette Murphy, Executive Director, Atkinson Charitable Foundation