The Gordon Sinclair Roving Reporter Bursary

The Gordon Sinclair Roving Reporter Bursary supports 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 is 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. The successful applicant will 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. A key element of the bursary is journalistic mentorship for the successful candidate and some assistance with preparations for the research trip. In addition, the Sinclair Foundation will facilitate a pre-departure orientation exercise to help the bursary winner deal with cultural adaptation and such logistics as travel arrangements, insurance and medical needs.

Eligibility

Journalists who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents and who graduated from a university-level journalism program in the past five years are eligible to apply for the Gordon Sinclair Roving Reporter Bursary. Journalism students who are in their graduating year are eligible to apply for the bursary, but must demonstrate that they are eligible to graduate this June. The purpose of the $15,000 bursary is to encourage an early career journalist to get off the beaten track and to spend a considerable period away on a reporting assignment – a minimum of six weeks. Applicants must 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. Applicants who work full-time with a media organization must include a letter from an editor who is in a position to guarantee that a leave of absence of a minimum of six weeks would be granted for the applicant to take up the reporting trip if selected for the bursary.

Terms of the Award

A bursary winner should be selected before the end of June, 2024. The successful applicant will be expected to embark on the reporting trip – which must include a minimum of six weeks on the ground – within six months of notification of receipt of the bursary.

The final journalistic output from the trip must be ready for submission no later than one month after the completion of the reporting trip. A holdback of $3,000 from the $15,000 bursary will be released to the recipient only after receipt by the Gordon Sinclair Foundation of:

  •  journalistic output deemed satisfactory by the Foundation; and
  • a detailed trip expense report, submitted according to the guidelines of the media outlet

Publication and / or broadcast of bursary work will be accompanied by an appropriate credit citing financial support from the Gordon Sinclair Roving Reporter Bursary. While published work shall remain the property of the bursary recipient, the Gordon Sinclair Foundation reserves the right to use completed projects to promote the bursary and the partner media outlets will have the right to publish or broadcast the work.

Deadline

A call for applications is published  each year. The deadline for applications is May 6, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. EST.

Further Information

If you have any questions, you can contact the Executive Director of the Gordon Sinclair Foundation, Jeremy Copeland at: jcopela4@uwo.ca or Allan Thompson at: allan_thompson@carleton.ca

Please mention Gordon Sinclair Roving Reporter Bursary in the subject line of the email message.

Confirmation messages will be sent to all applicants. If you have submitted your application but have not received a confirmation email by mid-May, please contact Jeremy Copeland at jcopela4@uwo.ca to follow up.