Journalism alumni among the CJF Black Journalism Fellowship recipients

The Canadian Journalism Foundation (CJF) recently announced Kiernan Green, Dorcas Marfo, Wendy-Ann Clarke, and Ashleigh-Rae Thomas as the recipients of the Black Journalism Fellowship Program in partnership with CBC/Radio-Canada, CTV News and the Investigative Journalism Bureau. 

The fellowship program aims to amplify Black voices, improve coverage of Black issues in the news and cultivate future media leaders by providing early-career Black journalists the opportunity to be hosted at a news organization for six months.

Marfo, a 2020 graduate of the School of Journalism, received the CJF-CTV News Black Journalism Fellowship. She currently works as a radio room reporter for the Toronto Star.

“As a Black journalist, I’ve had my share of doubting my craft and losing momentum when faced with various challenges,” Marfo says. “Winning this fellowship has been confirmation that sticking by my passion is rewarding and I will continue to advocate for underrepresented communities that have far too long been neglected.

Marfo says her motto is, “everyone deserves to be seen the way they want to be seen,” and with this fellowship, she says she’s getting an opportunity to connect, listen, and give a platform to communities that have nurtured her and helped her find her identity.

“I hope to accomplish projects that dive deeper into the marginalized pockets of Canada, where vulnerable communities are paving a way for themselves or experiencing an issue that needs awareness,” she says. She adds that she wants to engage and impact readers even after they’ve closed their browser or set aside a newspaper by experimenting with cross-platform content and multimedia elements.

“I’m hopeful that CTV as a media powerhouse will support me in expanding and shaping my journalism career,” she says.

Green, a 2021 graduate of the school, received the CJF-CBC/Radio-Canada Black Journalism Fellowship. He is currently a regional reporter for Black Press Media in Victoria, B. C. 

Since graduating from the School of Journalism a year ago and entering the industry, he says he’s already witnessed attitudes in both the newsroom and communities across Canada that necessitate fellowships like this one for early-career Black journalists. 

He says he hopes this fellowship will provide him with a strong career foundation on top of what he’s learned in journalism school. “I'm as excited and grateful as any J-school grad would be to be a part of the investigations, data journalism and multimedia production teams within Canada's broadcaster, and will lean on my lessons from the journalism school faculty more than anything else,” he says.

The four fellows will be recognized at this year's CJF Awards ceremony on June 7 at the Art Gallery of Ontario.