News – Gordon Sinclair Foundation

Winner of Gordon Sinclair bursary will travel to Kiribati to document threat of climate change

Toronto (July 17, 2024) – One young Canadian reporter will embark on an extended reporting trip to the Republic of Kiribati in the central Pacific Ocean through the Gordon Sinclair Roving Reporter Bursary.

Kiribati may soon be the first country that rising sea levels will swallow up because of climate change. No part of the country’s land mass rises more than a few meters above the ocean and its Indigenous peoples may soon be forced to become climate refugees.

Megan King, a Global News reporter in Halifax, will produce an in-depth video series with full online and social media treatment. It will highlight the damage already done by rising sea levels, and what is to come if action isn’t taken on a global scale. King plans to spend six weeks reporting in Kiribati and its neighbouring islands to share stories of Kiribatians still holding onto hope for their homeland. She will bring her findings back to Canada and meet with the people of Pictou Landing and Cape Breton about the threats they face because of climate change.

“I’m honoured to receive the Roving Reporter Bursary. I look forward to talking to people that live in Kiribati, as well as environmental activists that are currently working to build walls and sustain the communities on the island for as long as possible.”

King has worked in various roles at Global News in Toronto, Kingston, and currently in Halifax. She is a digital broadcast journalist and tells stories that range from human interest pieces on homelessness, healthcare and municipal affairs — all the way to stories where she jumps out of a plane or chases a storm! King graduated from Western University’s Master of Media in Journalism and Communication program in 2020 and from Fanshawe College’s Broadcast Journalism program in 2019. During her time on the East Coast, she has developed a deeper interest in exploring the threats posed by rising sea levels to communities living along the coastline.

“The opportunity to hear firsthand accounts from people around the world on this issue is extremely exciting,” King said. “I can’t wait to learn and bring back my findings to Canadians with the hope of learning from the situations of others.”

**Megan King, bottom right, meets by Zoom with the board of directors of the Gordon Sinclair Foundation.**

“We are excited to support an early career journalist to travel to such a remote part of the world to tell a story that is relevant for all Canadians,” said Allan Thompson, President of the Gordon Sinclair Foundation. In 1986 Thompson was the first young journalist to receive funding from the Gordon Sinclair Foundation.

“We are happy to be able to support a Canadian journalist to report on an issue as import as climate change,” said Foundation Executive Producer Jeremy Copeland. “It is an honour to be help a journalist like Megan to pursue her dream of reporting abroad.”

King is 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. Previous Bursary recipients have produced stories for multiple outlets, including the CBC, Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail.

The Roving Reporter Bursary was created in memory of Gordon Sinclair, who made his name reporting around the world for the Toronto Star in the 1930s. The bursary was established by friends of the remarkable journalist, author, radio commentator and television personality who was one of Canada’s most enduring celebrities until his death in 1984. Sinclair earned that celebrity during a career that included periods with the Toronto Star, CFRB radio and as a panelist on CBC’s long-running news quiz program Front Page Challenge.

At a time when most news organizations have cut back on travel, the Gordon Sinclair Roving Reporter Bursary is meant to support a major research and reporting trip by an early career Canadian journalist who has within the past five years graduated from one of Canada’s university-level journalism programs. The purpose of the $15,000 bursary is to encourage a young journalist to get off the beaten track and to spend a minimum of six weeks away on a reporting assignment.

Last year the Foundation awarded three Roving Reporter Bursaries after missing two years due to Covid.

Ania Bessonov spent several weeks reporting in Central Asia on the exodus of hundreds of thousands of Russians, many of which come from ethnic minorities. They fled Russia because of President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine. Bessonov is a multi-platform journalist at CBC News.

https://www.cbc.ca/newsinteractives/features/ethnic-russian-migration

Isaac Phan Nay travelled to Ontario’s Ring of Fire region to produce a podcast that explored how local communities are reacting to provincial plans to heavily mine the region. Phan Nay is a freelance journalist and a recent graduate from Carleton’s journalism program.

https://www.nationalobserver.com/podcast/road/road

Jade Prévost-Manuel spent several weeks in Morrocco investigating the local impact of Canadian recruitment of qualified nurses and health care workers from North African countries. Prévost-Manuel is a freelance journalist and former CBC Joan Donaldson Scholar.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-morocco-desperately-needs-more-nurses-canada-is-hiring-them-away

Information about applying for the Roving Reporter Bursary can be found at: https://gordonsinclairfoundation.ca/the-gordon-sinclair-roving-reporter-bursary/

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

TORONTO (June 28, 2023)—Three young Canadian reporters will embark on extended reporting trips to North Africa, Central Asia and northern Ontario through the Gordon Sinclair Roving Reporter Bursary.

This is the second time in 40 years that the Sinclair Foundation has elected to give out multiple bursaries in a single year. The foundation’s board opted to do so this week in recognition of the high calibre of applications and the fact that a Sinclair award had not been given out for two consecutive years as a result of the pandemic.

“We were thrilled by the enthusiasm for this award that was shown by a whole new crop of reporters looking to travel near and far in order to tell unique stories for a Canadian audience,” said Allan Thompson, president of the foundation. Thompson was himself the first young journalist to receive funding from the Gordon Sinclair Foundation in order to pursue research in another country back in 1986. “This year’s winners each proposed very important reporting projects and they are each uniquely qualified to receive the foundation’s support.”

Ania Bessonov, a multi-platform journalist at CBC news, will spend several weeks reporting in Central Asia on the exodus of the hundreds of thousands of Russians, many of which come from ethnic minorities, who fled the country following President Vladimir Putin’s announcement of a partial mobilization to continue the war in Ukraine; Isaac Phan Nay, a recent Carleton journalism graduate and freelance journalist, will journey to Ontario’s Ring of Fire region to produce a podcast series that will explore how local communities are reacting to provincial plans to heavily mine the region; Jade Prévost-Manuel, a freelance journalist and former Joan Donaldson Scholar, will travel to North Africa to investigate the local impact of Canadian recruitment of qualified nurses and health care workers from other countries like Morocco, Tunisia and Cameroon.

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. Previous recipients have produced stories for multiple outlets, including the CBC and Toronto Star, which were Gordon Sinclair’s longstanding employers.

The Roving Reporter Bursary was created in memory of Gordon Sinclair, who made his name reporting around the world for the Toronto Star in the 1930s. The bursary replaced a university scholarship for journalism students that was been given out annually since 1986 by the Gordon Sinclair Foundation, established by friends of the remarkable journalist, author, radio commentator and television personality who until his death in 1984, was one of Canada’s most enduring celebrities. He earned that celebrity during a career that included periods with the Toronto Star, CFRB radio and as a panelist on CBC’s long-running news quiz program Front Page Challenge.

At a time when most news organizations have cut back on travel, the Gordon Sinclair Roving Reporter Bursary is meant to support a major research and reporting trip by an early career Canadian journalist who has within the past five years graduated from one of Canada’s university-level journalism programs. The purpose of the $15,000 bursary is to encourage a young journalist to get off the beaten track and to spend a considerable period—traditionally a minimum of six weeks – away on a reporting assignment.

In 2020, Josie Fomé used the bursary to explore what happened to communities in Kampala when borders closed and what do locals say is needed to make development work ethical as the world slowly attempts to “reopen” after the pandemic. In 2019, Sarah Lawrynuik used the bursary to report on political changes and the erosion of various freedoms in Eastern Europe. Her field reporting in Ukraine earned her a nomination for a CAJ (Canadian Association of Journalists) award for human rights reporting.

Applicants to the Gordon Sinclair Roving Reporter Bursary were invited to submit 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.

Here are more details about the winners and their reporting projects:

ANIA BESSONOV has worked in various roles at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in Toronto, including as a senior writer and a producer for several platforms. A graduate of Toronto Metropolitan University’s journalism program (2019) she speaks English, Russian and French as well as Hebrew and Ukrainian. She has an MA in Security and Diplomacy from Tel Aviv University where she completed a thesis analyzing how different Russian news outlets covered the Covid-19 pandemic and the lead up to the invasion of Ukraine. “I’ve been passionate about the Central Asian region for quite some time,” says Bessonov. “Not only is it rich in history and culture, but it’s become a pivotal place of refuge for many Russians, especially those from Siberia and ethnic minorities, who fled in large numbers following news of the partial mobilization. I am embarking on this journey to tell the stories from this region — a journey that would not be possible without the generous assistance from the Gordon Sinclair Roving Reporter Bursary.”

ISAAC PHAN NAY is a 2023 graduate of Carleton University’s journalism program. A former radio roomer at the Toronto Star, he has written for several publications including Canada’s National Observer and the Breach. Now, he works as an anchor and producer for CityNews in Vancouver. His reporting has earned recognition from the Emerge media awards and the Canadian University Press. By heading to northern Ontario’s Ring of Fire mining region, he hopes to help people in south Ontario hear the voices of people living in the province’s North. “I’m thankful for this rare opportunity. I hope I can do justice to the stewards of one of the earth’s most powerful carbon sinks.”

JADE PRÉVOST-MANUEL is an alumnus of both McGill University and Western University, where she obtained a masters of journalism in 2020. A former CBC News associate producer, Jade has worked in investigative journalism, science journalism, and local and national daily news. She speaks both English and French, and her bylines have appeared in nearly 20 publications around the world. Canadian-born but raised abroad, Jade is passionate about telling global stories that help Canadians think critically about their global impact and amplify the voices of people in underreported regions, particularly in the Caribbean. Her most recent stories examined a social movement to reclaim safe abortion access in Haiti and looked at how sex education can impact gender-based violence in Trinidad and Tobago. “Waiting hours in an emergency room, years for a medical procedure, days or months for a call back from a specialist… those are healthcare situations that anyone living in Canada can relate to,” says Prévost-Manuel. “Coming out of a pandemic, Canadians want to know how we can heal our healthcare system. I want to investigate the local impacts, at home and abroad, of one of the proposed solutions—foreign medical recruitment.”

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

TORONTO (June 27, 2023)—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.

Fomé used the Gordon Sinclair Roving Reporter Bursary to explore what happened to communities in Kampala when borders closed and what do locals say is needed to make development work ethical as the world slowly attempts to “reopen” after the pandemic.

“I was a bit shocked when I kept reading article after article about organizations shutting down because staff feared for their safety even though African countries at large were the least hit by the virus. I asked myself, what does that mean for the communities they were tasked to support,” says Fomé. The documentary, which can be found here, has also been screened in Kampala.

The Gordon Sinclair Foundation awarded the Roving Reporter Bursary to Fomé at the onset of the pandemic. As the global public health emergency set in, Fomé was forced to delay and refocus her project. She ultimately travelled to Uganda in 2022 to report, produce and edit the documentary, which looks at how local non-profits in Kampala responded at the height of the pandemic when international aid organizations shut down operations as a result of COVID-19.

A graduate of Concordia University’s journalism program, Fomé has worked with Canadian Black Standard, CTV News and Sayaspora. She is also the host and producer of Filling the Void with Josie, a podcast that focuses on the experiences of recent university graduates in Canada.

As a Gordon Sinclair Roving Reporter, Fomé conducted about 22 weeks of field research in Uganda, where she spoke to various staff members at a number of nonprofits in Kampala to gauge what the situation was like for them pre, during, and post pandemic; identified different organizations, sectors, and communities that were most affected; managed a small crew to assist with filming; and conducted interviews with experts within the international development industry amongst other tasks.

“The conversation around ‘dead aid’ may not be new, but I’m curious to see how the international development industry will shift as a result of local communities stepping in to fill the gap left behind by large international NGOs. This bursary allowed me to dig deeper into the stories I want to see more of and confirmed for me the type of stories I want to tell. So much is happening on the African continent, and it goes beyond the stereotypical narratives, and I want to be one of the people bringing more light to those stories,” Fomé says.

“I want to bring this story home to Canadians who are filled with good but misplaced intentions and to screen it in Uganda where the concept of philanthropy is not a novel one and continues to grow in traditional and nontraditional ways. Community has always been at the center in different ways, shapes, and sizes.”

At a time when most news organizations have cut back on travel, the Gordon Sinclair Roving Reporter Bursary is meant to support a major research and reporting trip by an early career Canadian journalist who has within the past five years graduated from one of Canada’s university-level journalism programs. The purpose of the $15,000 bursary is to encourage a young journalist to get off the beaten track and to spend a considerable period—a minimum of six weeks – away on a reporting assignment.

In recent years, bursary winners have used the award to document stories inside Canada and around the world.

In 2019, Sarah Lawrynuik used the Roving Reporter bursary to report on political changes and the erosion of various freedoms in Eastern Europe. Her field reporting in Ukraine earned her a nomination for a CAJ (Canadian Association of Journalists) award for human rights reporting.In 2018, Katrina Clarke used the to report on Indigenous education in Australia and Canada. The results of her reporting were published by the Toronto Star and theCBC and provided an international context to Canada’s efforts at truth and reconciliation.

In 2017, award-winning investigative reporter Annie Burns-Pieper travelled 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.

For more information about Josie and her ongoing work, visit her website josephinefome.com or follow her on Instagram @heyitsjozee

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

TORONTO (June 11, 2019)—Journalist Sarah Lawrynuik will use the Gordon Sinclair Roving Reporter Bursary to explore the recent monumental political shifts that have led to the erosion of various freedoms in several Eastern and Central European countries.

The Gordon Sinclair Foundation awarded the bursary at its annual meeting, in Toronto on June 10. Lawrynuik, 27, is a Calgary-based multimedia journalist and a University of King’s College graduate who has worked across multiple platforms, filing stories to the CBC, The Narwhal, The Sprawl and New Scientist, among others. Since graduating, Lawrynuik has worked at the CBC in numerous roles including a six-month stint as a one-woman pop-up bureau in Lethbridge, Alta. As a freelancer she has published stories from eight countries, including Iraq. She focuses on in-depth storytelling across multiple platforms, especially radio and is currently pursuing a Master of Science degree in Global Energy and Climate Policy from the University of London.

2019 bursary winner Sarah Lawrynuik
Credit: CBC

As a Gordon Sinclair Roving Reporter, Lawrynuik will examine the current political shifts in Eastern and Central Europe and how those shifts are resonating in Canada. She will engage with the sizeable diasporas of Hungarian, Ukrainian and Polish Canadians on the ground in Calgary, Winnipeg and Toronto before flying abroad to track the story there. Austria will be included in her travels, where Michael Ignatieff and the Central European University was recently relocated after having been thrown out of Hungary.

“The changes in Hungary echo those seen in the days following the final shots of World War II as Soviet forces took hold,” Lawrynuik says. “State control of the media, banning work of civil society groups, the detention of refugees—all seen then and now.”

“I want to bring this story home to Canadians and compare everyday people’s views with what the international narrative of the changes has been.”

“I want to thank the Gordon Sinclair Foundation for this opportunity to pursue in-depth international journalism,” Lawrynuik added. “It’s a chance rarely afforded to early-career journalists. I’m thrilled to represent the foundation in this way.”

At a time when most news organizations have cut back on travel, the Gordon Sinclair Roving Reporter Bursary is meant to support a major research and reporting trip by an early career Canadian journalist who has within the past five years graduated from one of Canada’s university-level journalism programs. The purpose of the $15,000 bursary is to encourage a young journalist to get off the beaten track and to spend a considerable period—a minimum of six weeks – away on a reporting assignment.

In recent years, bursary winners have used the award to document stories anywhere from the Middle East to Northern Canada.

In 2018, Katrina Clarke used the Roving Reporter bursary to report on Indigenous education in Australia and Canada. The results of her reporting were published by the Toronto Star, CBC and The Daily Gleaner and provided an international context to Canada’s efforts at truth and reconciliation.

Two of Sinclair’s former employers—the Toronto Star and the CBC—have undertaken to provide mentorship by senior editors to the bursary winner and to consider the work for publication or broadcast.

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

TORONTO (June 12, 2018) — 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.

The Gordon Sinclair Foundation awarded the bursary today at its annual meeting, in Toronto. Clarke is a 30-year-old reporter based in Fredericton where she writes for The Daily Gleaner. A former Toronto Star reporter, Clarke has contributed to the CBC and National Post. She covers education and politics in New Brunswick specializing in stories on Indigenous issues, inequality and mental health.

Her Roving Reporter project stemmed from interviews with Indigenous youth who expressed pain for what Canada’s residential school system did to previous generations and confusion about how specific cultures fit into our education system today.

“Indigenous issues in Atlantic Canada remain underreported,” said Clarke. “As an education reporter, I see firsthand how the divide between culture and classroom negatively affects Indigenous youths’ mental health and academic development. I will investigate how governments are attempting to incorporate Indigenous culture into the classrooms, why students struggle when they leave home to attend school and what is lost when a flown-in outsider teaches in a remote community.”

2018 bursary winner Katrina Clarke
(Photo: Harriett Dedman)

As a Gordon Sinclair Roving Reporter, Clarke will travel across Atlantic Canada and to Australia, where she will report on the Melbourne Indigenous Transition School (MITS), a public-private school for Indigenous youths from communities thousands of kilometres away.

The Roving Reporter Bursary was created in memory of Gordon Sinclair, who made his name reporting around the world for the Toronto Star in the 1930s. The bursary replaces a university scholarship for journalism students that has been given out annually since 1986 by the Gordon Sinclair Foundation, established by friends of the remarkable journalist, author, radio commentator and television personality who until his death in 1984, was one of Canada’s most enduring celebrities. He earned that celebrity during a career that included periods with the Toronto Star, CFRB radio and as a panelist on CBC’s long-running news quiz program Front Page Challenge.

Clarke is a graduate of the Master of Arts in Journalism program at Western University where she was named Best Broadcast Journalist in her program. She also has a BA in Political and Global Development Studies from Queen’s University. A seasoned reporter and successful freelancer, she has experience working abroad having previously won an IDRC International Development Journalism Award that took her to Thailand where she spent seven months writing for the Bangkok Post.

She has proven her ability to cover stories of local, national and global interest in a variety of beats and across multiple platforms. Through recent Freedom of Information requests, she exposed how teachers are secretly disciplined by New Brunswick school districts. As a Roving Reporter, she will mine for health data on suicide and depression rates among Indigenous youth, education statistics on Indigenous youth literacy, math and science scores vs. region-wide scores, and international reports on outcomes of education programs targeting Indigenous youth.

The legendary Gordon Sinclair

At a time when most news organizations have cut back on travel, the Gordon Sinclair Roving Reporter Bursary is meant to support a major research and reporting trip by an early career Canadian journalist who has within the past five years graduated from one of Canada’s university-level journalism programs. The purpose of the $15,000 bursary is to encourage a young journalist to get off the beaten track and to spend a considerable period – a minimum of six weeks – away on a reporting assignment.

In recent years, bursary winners have used the award to document stories anywhere from the Middle East to Northern Canada. Last year’s recipient, award-winning investigative reporter Annie Burns-Pieper travelled 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.

Two of Sinclair’s former employers – the Toronto Star and the CBC – are associated with the bursary and have undertaken to provide mentorship by senior editors to the bursary winner as he prepares for his reporting trip and then to consider the work for publication or broadcast.

– 30 –

For further information or to arrange interviews, please contact:

Brett Popplewell
Executive Director
Gordon Sinclair Foundation
brett.popplewell@carleton.ca
416-826-0542

Katrina Clarke
katrinaclarke24@gmail.com
647-221-8377

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

How a White House reversal affects a village in Madagascar
On an island where 10 women a day die from complications from pregnancy and childbirth, the funding cutoff by USAID because of its new abortion rules can have serious consequences.

Read Annie Burns-Pieper’s full report for the Toronto Star.

Trump changes to foreign aid restricting access to family planning services in poorest countries
Reinstatement of Mexico City Policy bars U.S. funding for organizations that perform or advocate for abortion

Read Annie Burns-Pieper’s full report for the CBC.

End to “confusion and fear”? Madagascar set to update colonial-era family planning laws
Abortion is illegal in Madagascar, but clandestine terminations are performed regularly

Read Annie Burns-Pieper’s full report for the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

The plague is spreading rapidly in Madagascar, which already had highest number of cases worldwide
Between 2010 and 2015, Madagascar accounted for about 82% of the deaths from plague worldwide

Read Annie Burns-Pieper’s full report for the CBC.

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

TORONTO (June 12, 2017) – 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.

The Gordon Sinclair Foundation awarded the bursary today at its annual meeting, in Toronto. Burns-Pieper, a 31-year-old investigative reporter who has worked as a producer with CBC’s Investigative Unit, CTV’s W5 and Global 16×9, plans to use the $15,000 bursary to examine how the loss of USAID funding has impacted women, their families as well as aid organizations in Madagascar. The Canadian government has pledged $20 million to sexual health and family planning initiatives to try to offset the loss of USAID funding. Burns-Pieper will follow Marie Stopes International and other groups which have recently lost funding as a result of the Mexico City Policy, or Global Gag Rule.

“The reinstatement of the Global Gag Rule has brought Canadian attention to the issue of reproductive health aid,” said Burns-Pieper. It’s estimated that from 2017-2020 USAID funded programs in Madagascar would have prevented more than one million unintended pregnancies, and averted almost 340,000 abortions and more than 2,200 maternal deaths.

The Roving Reporter Bursary was created in memory of Gordon Sinclair, who made his name gallivanting around the world for the Toronto Star in the 1930s. The bursary replaces a university scholarship for journalism students that has been given out annually since 1986 by the Gordon Sinclair Foundation, established by friends of the remarkable journalist, author, radio commentator and television personality who until his death in 1984, was one of Canada’s most enduring celebrities. He earned that celebrity during a career that included periods with the Toronto Star, CFRB radio and as a panelist on CBC’s long-running news quiz program Front Page Challenge.

Burns-Pieper is a graduate of the Masters of Journalism program at Ryerson University, in Toronto. She also has an MSc in Global History from the London School of Economics and a BA from Dalhousie University.

Burns-Pieper has proven her ability to take the lead on stories of national interest as reporter and producer on Canada’s top investigative broadcast teams. In recent years she has led investigations into alleged mistreatment of pregnant women in Canadian delivery rooms, dangerous building materials used in schools and other public buildings and the Alberta wild horse cull. In 2015, she led a cross-platform investigation into inpatient suicide in Canadian hospitals for CTV W5.

At a time when most news organizations have cut back on travel, the Gordon Sinclair Roving Reporter Bursary is meant to support a major research and reporting trip by an early career Canadian journalist who has within the past five years graduated from one of Canada’s university-level journalism programs. The purpose of the $15,000 bursary is to encourage a young journalist to get off the beaten track and to spend a considerable period – a minimum of six weeks – away on a reporting assignment.

In recent years, bursary winners have used the award to document stories anywhere from the Middle East to Northern Canada. Burns-Pieper is a seasoned young reporter who also has experience living and working abroad. Prior to her studies in journalism she worked in both Guatemala and Morocco and has travelled extensively around Latin America and Asia.

Two of Sinclair’s former employers – the Toronto Star and the CBC – are associated with the bursary and have undertaken to provide mentorship by senior editors to the bursary winner as he prepares for his reporting trip and then to consider the work for publication or broadcast.

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 restive town of Arsal lies at the bottom, inside an army cordon set up two years ago after a brief Daesh takeover.

By Corbett Hancey
Special to the Star
Jan. 29, 2017

Read Corbett Hancey’s full report for the Toronto Star.

Corbett’s dispatch appears just as the Gordon Sinclair Foundation launches the competition for the 2017 Gordon Sinclair Roving Reporter Bursary. The $15,000 bursary was created in memory of Gordon Sinclair, who made his name gallivanting around the world for the Toronto Star in the 1930s. At a time when most news organizations have cut back on travel, the Gordon Sinclair Roving Reporter Bursary is meant to support a major research and reporting trip by an early career Canadian journalist who has within the past five years graduated from one of Canada’s university-level journalism programs. The purpose of the $15,000 bursary is to encourage a young journalist to get off the beaten track and to spend a considerable period – a minimum of six weeks – away on a reporting assignment.

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, who has worked for Vice Media and the CBC since completing his studies, plans to use the $15,000 bursary to examine such issues as the challenges faced by the health and education sectors in Lebanon because of the presence of millions of Syrian refugees.

“Lebanon’s small size and huge number of refugees means it’s arguably under more strain than any other refugee-hosting country,” Hancey said. “Canada made a specific commitment to help lessen that burden and stabilize the country. So for me this is a chance to look at the impact Canada can have in a country whose ability to help an extremely vulnerable group is stretched to the limit.”

“Without this bursary, a trip like this just wouldn’t be possible for someone in my position,” Hancey added. “The extended stay allows me to get a feel for the place and the stories in a way reporters who stay just a few days don’t get the opportunity to experience. For a young journalist, it’s the chance of a lifetime.”

Hancey is a graduate of the Bachelor of Journalism program at King’s College, in Halifax, the city where he grew up. He also has a BA from McGill and a Masters in Intelligence and International Security from the Department of War Studies at King’s College, London.

As a journalist, Hancey is just completing a one-year stint as a researcher for Vice Media. At Vice he researched and developed eight 30-minute episodes for a new TV documentary series called Cyberwar. He also worked for several years as a producer with CBC’s News Now.

At a time when most news organizations have cut back on travel, the Gordon Sinclair Roving Reporter Bursary is meant to support a major research and reporting trip by an early career Canadian journalist who has within the past five years graduated from one of Canada’s university-level journalism programs. The purpose of the $15,000 bursary is to encourage a young journalist to get off the beaten track and to spend a considerable period – a minimum of six weeks – away on a reporting assignment.

For the last few years, bursary winners have used the award to document stories in Canada. Hancey is the first recipient in some time to travel abroad. (And for that matter, Hancey is the first bursary winner to have been a contestant on the quiz show Jeopardy).

Gordon Sinclair Foundation meets June 16 to announce Bursary winner

The board of directors of the Gordon Sinclair Foundation meets in Toronto on Thursday, June 16 for the foundation’s annual general meeting and to announce this year’s winner of the Gordon Sinclair Roving Reporter Bursary.

sinclair pith helmet The Roving Reporter Bursary was created in memory of Gordon Sinclair, who made his name gallivanting around the world for the Toronto Star in the 1930s. The bursary replaces a university scholarship for journalism students that has been given out annually since 1986 by the Gordon Sinclair Foundation, established by friends of the remarkable journalist, author, radio commentator and television personality who until his death in 1984, was one of Canada’s most enduring celebrities. He earned that celebrity during a career that included periods with the Toronto Star, CFRB radio and as a panelist on CBC’s long- running news quiz program Front Page Challenge.

At a time when most news organizations have cut back on travel, the Gordon Sinclair Roving Reporter Bursary is meant to support a major research and reporting trip by an early career Canadian journalist who has within the past five years graduated from one of Canada’s university-level journalism programs. The purpose of the $15,000 bursary is to encourage a young journalist to get off the beaten track and to spend a considerable period – a minimum of six weeks – away on a reporting assignment.

Two of Sinclair’s former employers – the Toronto Star and the CBC – are associated with the bursary and have undertaken to provide mentorship by senior editors to the bursary winner as she prepares for her reporting trip and then to consider their work for publication or broadcast.