Gordon Sinclair Foundation

Gordon Sinclair – Roving Reporter

Learn more about the bursary and how to apply

The Gordon Sinclair Foundation

The Gordon Sinclair Foundation was established in 1984 by a group of friends of the late journalist and broadcaster, Gordon Sinclair, to honour his memory and recognize his contributions to Canadian journalism. In 2014 the Foundation launched the Gordon Sinclair Roving Reporter Bursary to honour the legacy of Sinclair’s style of reporting through an annual bursary meant to encourage a young Canadian journalist to undertake a challenging reporting assignment.

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Gordon Sinclair Roving Reporter Bursary

The Gordon Sinclair Roving Reporter Bursary will support a research and reporting trip by an early career Canadian journalist who has recently graduated from one of Canada’s university-level journalism programs. The purpose of the $15,000 bursary will be to encourage a young journalist to get off the beaten track and to spend a considerable period away on a reporting assignment – a minimum of six weeks. To be successful, the applicant would have to outline a proposal to travel abroad or to a region of Canada that is not usually well covered by the media and to research and then prepare a substantial body of journalistic work on an important issue.

About the Bursary

Legendary Journalist, Author, Radio Commentator and Television Panelist

Get to Know Gordon Sinclair

Latest News

June 29, 2023

Three early career journalists receive 2023 bursary to undertake major reporting trips in Asia, Africa and northern Ontario

This year’s recipients are the latest in a long line of young journalists who have been awarded funding by the Gordon Sinclair Foundation to undertake reporting expeditions around the world.

June 27, 2023

Josie Fomé, 2021-2022 bursary winner, completes documentary in Uganda

Montreal-based freelance journalist Josie Fomé has released her new documentary exploring the rise of local philanthropy within the international aid sector in response to the pandemic.

March 2, 2022

Sinclair Foundation mourns the death of CFRB veteran Don Johnston, 91

It is with sadness that we share the news of the passing of Don Johnston – the long-time news director of CFRB radio in Toronto and founding member of the Gordon Sinclair Foundation. Don died on Monday, in his 92nd year.

June 11, 2019

Sarah Lawrynuik, 2019 bursary winner, to report on political changes in Eastern Europe

Calgary-based multimedia journalist will travel to the former Eastern Bloc to cover the impact of ongoing political changes

June 12, 2018

Katrina Clarke, 2018 bursary winner, to report on Indigenous education in Canada and Australia

Journalist Katrina Clarke will use the Gordon Sinclair Roving Reporter Bursary to investigate the failures and successes of Indigenous education across Atlantic Canada and abroad, providing an international context to Canada’s efforts at truth and reconciliation.

November 27, 2017

Annie Burns-Pieper, 2017 Roving Reporter, reports from Madagascar

With multiple dispatches to the CBC, Toronto Star and Thomson-Reuters Foundation, winner of the 2017 bursary details the impact of a White House policy reversal on the inhabitants of the distant island of Madagascar

June 12, 2017

Annie Burns-Pieper, 2017 Roving Reporter Bursary winner, to report from Madagascar

Journalist Annie Burns-Pieper will use the Gordon Sinclair Roving Reporter Bursary to travel to Madagascar to report on US President Donald Trump’s reinstatement of the Global Gag Rule — which bans foreign aid to groups that perform or promote abortion — and how it has impacted global health programs, specifically family planning and women’s health services.

February 4, 2017

Corbett Hancey, 2016 Roving Reporter bursary winner, reports from Lebanon for the Toronto Star

ARSAL, LEBANON—A frigid wind rips across the mountaintop as Col. Ahmed Assir, a commander in the Lebanese Army’s Ninth Infantry Brigade, peers into the valley below. The town of Arsal lies at the bottom, inside an army cordon set up two years ago after a brief Daesh takeover.

June 16, 2016

2016 Roving Reporter Bursary winner will report on Syrian refugees in Lebanon

TORONTO (June 16, 2016) – Journalist Corbett Hancey will use the Gordon Sinclair Roving Reporter Bursary to travel to Lebanon to explore how the country is coping with the influx of refugees and the pressures of the Syrian civil war. The Gordon Sinclair Foundation awarded the bursary today at its annual meeting, in Toronto. Hancey, […]

June 14, 2016