TORONTO, Sept. 21, 2020 /CNW/ – The Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) is pleased to announce the successful applicants of its inaugural Mentorship Program for Early-Career Journalists.
Over the coming weeks, 36 early-career journalists will learn from mentors working in radio, television, digital, and print publications across the country. These mentors have taken as many mentees as their schedules allowed. All said they wished they could help everyone who applied.
“The entire CAJ team has been blown away by the amount of interest and enthusiasm for this pilot program,” said CAJ president Brent Jolly. “Mentorship is a critical ingredient in building a productive, sustainable industry.”
“The CAJ is thrilled to have so many talented young journalists from different communities taking part. We can’t wait to see how this opportunity may spark remarkable changes in our industry in the future.”
The CAJ board of directors offers a deep, sincere thanks to all the mentors who are generously donating their time.
This year’s mentorship matches include:
- Adrian Harewood, co-anchor of CBC News Ottawa at 6
- Katie Swyers, journalism student at Ryerson University
- Inayat Singh, investigative reporter and data journalist at CBC News
- Karli Zshogner, news editor at the University of Ottawa’s The Fulcrum
- Shivani Persad, freelance journalist
- Andree Lau, managing editor of digital news for CBC
- Hadeel Abdel-Nabi, staff writer intern at The Sprawl
- Arif Noorani, executive producer and co-founder of CBC Podcasts
- Frances Koncan, arts reporter at the Winnipeg Free Press
- Sophie Woodrooffe, staff writer at Coast Reporter
- Brigitte Noël, investigative reporter with Radio-Canada’s flagship investigative series Enquête
- Selina Liu, student at The Governor’s Academy
- Emily Blake, reporter at Cabin Radio
- Prajwala Dixit, associate producer at CBC-NL
- David Thurton, national reporter in CBC’s parliamentary bureau
- Ahmar Khan, freelance reporter
- Alexander Quon, digital producer at Global News Halifax
- Emma Gilchrist, editor-in-chief of The Narwhal
- Tegwyn Hughe
- Braela Kwan, freelance reporter
- Dustin Patar, reporter at Nunatsiaq News
- Frances Bula, urban affairs contributor at the Globe and Mail and UBC adjunct professor
- Chen Zhou, freelance reporter
- Francine Compton, executive producer of APTN National News
- Shayla Sayer-Brabant, Indigenous communications arts student at First Nations University of Canada in Regina
- Jesse Winter, freelance visual journalist and 2020 Charles Bury Award winner
- Haley Ritchie, reporter/photographer at Yukon News
- Josie Fome, internship coordinator at CEED Concordia
- Karyn Pugliese, journalism professor at Ryerson University and past CAJ president
- Clarrie Feinstein, staff writer at Daily Hive
- Lisa LaFlamme, Chief News Anchor of CTV National News with Lisa LaFlamme
- Amanda Kline, weekend anchor at CTV Montreal
- Mike De Souza, managing editor, enterprise & investigation at Global News
- Daina Goldfinger, local online journalist at Global News
- Francois Carabin, journalist at Journal Metro
- Morgana Adby, student journalist at Carleton University
- Rachel Collier, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter at The Eastern Graphic and the West Prince Graphic, PEI
- Nick Taylor-Vaisey, associate editor at Maclean’s magazine and past CAJ president
- Kayla Zhu, undergraduate student at Ryerson University
- Thomas Desormeaux, feature reporter at OakvilleNews.org and student at Ryerson University
- Omar Taleb, student at Ryerson University
- Omayra Issa, bilingual journalist and news presenter for CBC/Radio-Canada
- Diamond Yao, freelance journalist
- Miriam Valdes-Carletti digital content editor at CTVNews.ca
- Reedah Harder, student journalist at Ryerson University
- Mecia Mooseely, freelance reporter and recent graduate from Seneca College
- Paul Wells, senior writer at Maclean’s magazine
- Jennifer Bieman, multimedia journalist at The London Free Press
- Paula Tran, master’s of journalism student at Ryerson University
- Shireen Ahmed, freelance sports journalist
- Marsha Joseph, student at York University
- Raylene Lung, student at Carleton University
In total, the CAJ received 122 applications to the program. Due to this incredible response, we’ll be hosting an event in October with some of our mentors for those who weren’t successful in getting a match this time around.
The CAJ strongly encourages applicants who did not match to apply for the next session to begin in January. If you are a journalist interested in mentoring for the second edition of this program please get in touch with us.
The Canadian Association of Journalists is a professional organization with more than 700 members across Canada. The CAJ’s primary roles are public-interest advocacy work and professional development for its members.
