New Awards to Support Students Interested in International Journalism

The RSJ introduced two new awards recognizing two of the most respected names in Canadian journalism to support students with an interest in international reporting.

Joe Schlesinger Memorial Award in Journalism

This award has been established in honour of one of Canada’s foremost and beloved journalists, Joe Schlesinger, who passed away in February of 2019. Schlesinger dedicated his life to covering war zones as a foreign correspondent, TV journalist and author even after retirement, continuing to produce reports and essays for CBC News.

“I wanted to make sure his name was kept alive because he was a household name in Canada for a long time and younger generations might not know that now. People should also know that he was very interested in training young journalists,” said Dr. Judith Levene, Schlesinger’s wife.

The award will recognize a journalism student with an interest in international journalism and/ or commitment to serving the community in Canada as outlined by a 500 word written essay. One student will receive $2,500 commencing in the 2020/2021 academic year.

“Candidates must be able to take world affairs and understand them on a personal level, that’s what [Schlesinger] did. He had that ability to make really touching parallels between foreign affairs and the personal stories of the people living it,” said Levene.

According to Levene, Schlesinger’s writing was accompanied by his tenderness and concern for the people involved in the story.

“He did a piece on an earthquake once and there was a child that was lodged in a big concrete barrier.[Schelsinger] stood by the concrete all day despite knowing a bomb could go off. He stood there until they were finally able to get the child out,” she said.

Schlesinger’s traumatic early life as a young child barely escaping Nazi soldiers via the Kindertransport is detailed in a memorial Levine wrote for RSJ: Joe Schlesinger Memorial Award in Journalism.

“Aside from being among Canada’s most recognized journalists, he was just a sweet man who cared about the next generation of journalists,” said Levene.

Brian Stewart Scholarship

Brian Stewart is a retired journalist who worked for 55 years as a foreign correspondent since graduating from the RSJ in 1964. Stewart has had an illustrious career which has earned him multiple accolades including the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, the Order of Ontario and multiple Honorary Degrees. Stewart developed this award to support a student embarking on an international internship or project abroad.

“At a certain point when retirement came along I wanted to give back. It is a feeling that many grads have, a sense of debt to the place that helped shape our career. I  thought that what would help young journalists would be to travel while in school. I wanted to help the current generation of journalists with their future challenges,” said Stewart.

The scholarship will be awarded to a journalism student in clear academic standing who has provided an application letter outlining their academic and professional merit, an internship/project budget form and a C.V. The student will receive $2,000 to fund the project or internship abroad.

Stewart believes that travel is an essential part of maturing as a journalist and recalled his own experience travelling as a student.

“In my day we didn’t get scholarships to travel but we still did it because it was so easy and cheap back then. During my summers away from Ryerson, I could go to Europe for a few weeks and stay in the University of Madrid for $1 a day. Travel is a great educator specially for journalists because it is your curiosity that drives you and you have to learn to deal with basic logistics or different international authorities to get your story,” Stewart said.

Stewart hopes this award inspires journalism students to chase a story abroad and gain valuable experience from their travel.

“It is a modest scholarship but I hope it encourages students to think of a story that takes them further than they expected and pursue that storyline abroad,” he said.

While the award was developed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Stewart is confident that the award can still benefit students and promote an international curiosity among young journalists.

“I am relying on the wisdom of the administration at the RSJ to be able to adapt because of the pandemic. The best we can do is remain flexible because the award may be necessary in other forms that aren't helping someone get on a plane right now,” said Stewart.

Applications for the Joe Schelsinger Memorial Award in Journalism and the Brian Stewart Scholarship are now open for students on Ryerson’s AwardSpring (external link) .