TORONTO, April 28, 2022 – The Canadian Journalism Foundation (CJF) is proud to announce Wendy-Ann Clarke, Kiernan Green, Dorcas Marfo and Ashleigh-Rae Thomas as recipients of the Black Journalism Fellowship Program in partnership with CBC/Radio-Canada, CTV News and the Investigative Journalism Bureau (IJB).
The fellowship program aims to amplify Black voices, improve coverage of Black issues in the news and cultivate future Black media leaders. Each fellowship provides a unique opportunity for an early-career Black journalist—with one-to-five years’ experience—to be hosted for six months at a CBC/Radio-Canada (English and French) or CTV News newsroom or at the IJB at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health.
The fellowship recipients are:
- Wendy-Ann Clarke, inaugural CJF-IJB Black Investigative Journalism Fellowship;
- Kiernan Green, CJF-CBC/Radio-Canada Black Journalism Fellowship;
- Dorcas Marfo, CJF-CTV News Black Journalism Fellowship; and
- Ashleigh-Rae Thomas, CJF-CBC/Radio-Canada Black Women’s Journalism Fellowship.
“Every one of our fellows this year has displayed an incredible passion for journalism,” says jury chair Dexter Brown, executive member of the Canadian Association of Black Journalists and a writer at CTV News Channel. “Their energy, enthusiasm and extraordinary drive to enlighten and inform Canadians impressed us. I can’t wait to see what they will do with this exciting opportunity.”
The four fellows will receive mentoring and training for a variety of skills, including video and audio editing, writing, research and investigative reporting. The CBC fellowships are offered in English or French.
Each fellow will receive a competitive full-time stipend and will write, produce or contribute to an article/series during their fellowship opportunity, which will be considered for publication/broadcast by the media partner organizations.
The recipients will be recognized at the CJF Awards ceremony on June 7 at the Art Gallery of Ontario. For more information, visit the CJF Awards page.
Thanks to the generous support of our sponsors:
- lululemon for the CJF-CBC/Radio-Canada Black Journalism Fellowship;
- Aritzia for the CJF-CBC/Radio-Canada Black Women’s Journalism Fellowship;
- BMO Financial Group for the CJF-CTV News Black Journalism Fellowship; and
- Unifor and The Jay and Barbara Hennick Family Foundation for the CJF-IJB Black Investigative Journalism Fellowship.
The CJF Black Journalism Fellowship jury members are:
- Dexter Brown (chair), executive member of the Canadian Association of Black Journalists and writer, CTV News;
- Ron Charles, retired national reporter, CBC News;
- Rob Cribb, investigative journalist, Toronto Star; Founder and director, The Investigative Journalism Bureau at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health;
- Ramneek Gill, general manager, CP24 and CTV News Toronto; and
- Andree Lau, managing editor of digital news, CBC News.
About the CJF Black Journalism Fellowship:
The CJF-CBC/Radio-Canada Black Journalism Fellowship was established to amplify Black voices, improve coverage of Black issues in the news and cultivate future Black media leaders. The award is modelled on the successful CJF-CBC Indigenous Journalism Fellowships program that has helped foster the careers of 13 Indigenous journalists since 2014.
Fellowship Categories:
– CJF-IJB Black Investigative Journalism Fellowship – NEW
– CJF-CBC/Radio-Canada Black Journalism Fellowship
– CJF-CBC/Radio-Canada Black Women’s Journalism Fellowship
– CJF-CTV News Black Journalism Fellowship
Fellows will be recognized at the CJF Awards ceremony taking place in June 2022.
Jury:
Jury details available here.
Past Winners:
2021:
– CJF-CBC/Radio-Canada Black Journalism Fellowship: Tiffany Mboyo Mongu
– CJF-CBC/Radio-Canada Black Women’s Journalism Fellowship: Dannielle Piper
– CJF-CTV News Black Journalism Fellowship: Josie Fomé
Thanks to the generous support of our sponsors:
Founding sponsors:
– lululemon for the CJF-CBC/Radio-Canada Black Journalism Fellowship;
– Aritzia for the CJF-CBC/Radio-Canada Black Women’s Journalism Fellowship; and
– BMO Financial Group for the CJF-CTV News Black Journalism Fellowship.
CJF-IJB Black Investigative Journalism Fellowship:
– Unifor and The Jay and Barbara Hennick Family Foundation for the CJF-IJB Black Investigative Journalism Fellowship.
For inquiries contact:
Natalie Turvey
President and Executive Director
The Canadian Journalism Foundation
E-mail: nturvey@cjf-fjc.ca
