Alum receives Martin Wise Goodman Canadian Nieman Fellowship

Pacinthe Mattar, Class of ‘10 and senior producer at Antica Productions, is the 2021 recipient of the Martin Wise Goodman Canadian Nieman Fellowship. 

She didn’t quite believe it at first. 

The day after Mattar interviewed for the Fellowship, she received a text from Martin Goodman’s son, Jonathan, asking if she had time for a chat. 

“I thought it was going to be a very personalized, gentle, here's why you didn't get it, but please apply again,” Mattar said. “So I panicked when I got that text and we ended up speaking very shortly after. We said hi and then the first thing he said to me was: ‘I think i'm about to make your day.’”

When the news sank in, Mattar said: “I think I just started crying...It's very hard to describe the kind of delight and shock and surprise and joy all at once.”

Nieman Fellowships provide a mid-career opportunity for journalists to study and broaden their intellectual horizons at Harvard University. During her Fellowship, Mattar plans to study how newsrooms and newsmaking can better foster, retain and promote Black, Indigenous and racialized journalists, focusing on how diversity initiatives can go beyond surface-level platitudes and lead to more representative newsrooms and coverage. 

“It's no secret how challenging this last year has been,” Mattar said. “It’s really laid bare the issues that we're facing in journalism, who feels like they can actually do journalism and not be punished for their lived experiences, the trappings of objectivity and who that leaves behind and who that punishes.” 

Speaking a few days after the remains of 215 children were found at the Kamloops Indian Residential School, she said: “What we're seeing is Indigenous journalists really leading the commentary and the coverage on it because they know it's so intimately, they've lived it, they have the experience and the cultural knowledge. I don't think anyone would dare say Indigenous journalists can't cover that story because they're too close to it...yet that same thing happens with other stories.”

In September, Mattar wrote “Objectivity Is a Privilege Afforded to White Journalists (external link) ” about her 10 years in journalism and the gap between how media organizations claim to value diversity and the experience of Black, Indigenous, and other racialized journalists have of being silenced or punished when they pushback. 

She wanted to keep building on the energy that came out of the piece. 

“I keep being asked, since that article came out, what are the solutions? Everyone wants to know what the solutions are,” Mattar said. “I thought, what if I got to spend a year at Harvard actually trying to craft some of those solutions, research them and really put time and effort towards that.”

She plans to spend the year looking at how to improve the way news is made in Canada, how newsrooms are designed, how to think of journalistic standards and practices, and how to teach future journalists about objectivity and its shortcomings.

“There's a lot of work to be done to make sure newsrooms are doing representative, good coverage and where journalists don't bear the brunt of trying to do better journalism,” Mattar said. “I would love to be able to come back with a new way of doing things and a new way for newsroom leaders and for reporters to think about our craft.”

A tap on your shoulder 

Mattar credited a former co-worker with initially putting the Nieman Fellowships on her radar and encouraging her to apply.  

“She came up to my desk during one of my busiest, most overwhelming times at CBC,” Mattar said, “Tapp[ed me] on the shoulder and said: ‘Hey, have you heard of this Nieman Fellowship? I did it and I think you should apply.’”

Without that co-worker coming to her desk, she wouldn’t have applied, and Mattar believes it's important to pay that encouragement forward. 

“If you’re thinking of applying, please get in touch and I will do my best to help you and give you guidance on the application process,” Mattar said. “But if you're reading this right now and you're thinking about it, consider this your tap on the shoulder.”