Here’s a ‘How-to Guide for Navigating Canadian Newsrooms as a BIPOC Journalist’
Produced as part of Journalist for Human Rights’ Enhanced Access for BIPOC Youth in Canadian Media program.
Hey y’all! Anita here. Things got super busy over at The Green Line HQ recently, so I took a month-long hiatus from The Other Wave in February. It’s great to be back. 👋
Last July, I announced Journalists for Human Rights’ Enhanced Access for BIPOC Youth in Canadian Media, a first-of-its-kind initiative that aims to build and sustain pipelines of high-potential journalists to help diversify Canada’s media ecosystem. Since then, our first cohort of BIPOC high school students, high school graduates and postsecondary students each received a paid placement with leading Canadian newsrooms, including The Canadian Press, The Local, The Tyee and Xtra.
As part of the program, facilitator and community-builder Erin Kang and I created a “How-to Guide for Navigating Canadian Newsrooms as a BIPOC Journalist,” which was illustrated by talented artist Harmeet Rehal. For guidance on content, I enlisted a community advisory board — made up of National Observer executive editor Karyn Pugliese, CityNews Toronto senior manager of newsgathering Nicole McCormick; former HuffPost Canada co-editor-in-chief Lisa Yeung; CBC executive director of equity and inclusion Nick Davis; and Inspirit Foundation CEO Sadia Zaman — to share expertise and advice based on experiences in their careers.
The guide features two sections: “Self-care Tips for How to Stay Grounded” and "What to Expect and How to Deal,” which explores how to handle five scenarios that BIPOC journalists in Canada have encountered in Canada: deadlines, tokenism, stereotypes and assumptions, DEI competency and online hate. If you’re interested in getting copies of the guide, reply to this newsletter and let me know.
Also as part of the program, I co-hosted “Navigating Canadian Newsrooms as BIPOC Journalists: An Interactive Workshop” with Carleton University Carty Chair in Journalism, Diversity and Inclusion Studies Nana aba Duncan and JHR program manager Hoda Ossoble early last month in Ottawa. The workshop included a panel featuring Toronto Star political reporter Raisa Patel, Carleton University professor Adrian Harewood and The Walrus editorial fellow Tobin Ng, who all spoke about their experiences navigating the Canadian journalism industry. It also included a Story Circle facilitated discussion where student attendees shared their concerns about entering the industry and possible solutions by answering these questions:
What are your biggest concerns about working in a Canadian newsroom as a BIPOC journalist?
What kind of support and resources do you want to help you prepare for a career in Canadian journalism?
What do you think about the resources in the JHR guide? What do you find helpful/unhelpful?
Broadly, here are the students’ top concerns:
Lack of confidence
Burnout and mental health challenges
Editorial barriers (i.e. editors not being receptive to pitches focused on BIPOC issues)
Lack of support networks
Tokenization
And here are the students’ top solutions:
Professional support networks
Self-care and mental health support
BIPOC journalist-specific workshops
Tell me: What are your thoughts on the concerns and solutions these BIPOC journalism students surfaced? And what would you add or remove from JHR’s guide?
Now hiring: TGL associate producers for our community show with CityNews Toronto and more
The Green Line is currently hiring two Associate Producers for our community show with CityNews Toronto. One would start at the beginning of May and the other would start at the beginning of June. Compensation is $20,000 for a 6-month contract. These roles are ideal for top senior-year journalism school students specializing in broadcast production, or early-career journalists with extensive broadcast experience.
I’m also interested in long-form pitches from experienced investigative and/or feature reporters based in Toronto that tackle the following systemic issues in the city through a solutions lens: housing affordability, the dance club scene downtown and the comedy scene. We offer highly competitive freelance rates.
Finally, I’m always looking for News Innovation Fellows and am particularly interested in applicants with experience in newsletter strategy and creation.
If you’re interested in applying to any of the above roles, please send me your resume, cover letter and links to three clips (news-length broadcast segments are preferred for Associate Producer applicants, longform features are preferred for freelance pitches and multimedia news pieces are preferred for Fellow applicants).
Quick and Clean
“In my community” and “Cool stuff I like” will be back…
Long-time subscribers of The Other Wave know how much I enjoy philosophy, which is why I immediately fell in love with Freedom In Thought, a YouTube channel that breaks down timeless philosophical concepts that can help you navigate life.
From April 12 to 13, I’ll be in Austin, Texas for the American Press Institute’s Local News Summit: Opinion, Civic Discourse and Sustainability. Come say hi if you’ll be there, too, or request an invite for one of the remaining spots by Sunday, March 12.
I recommend reading Huda Hassan’s beautifully written and thoughtfully reported February Action Journey feature for The Green Line, titled “How Two Black Woman Filmmakers From Toronto Created a Community That Launched the Black-Canadian Film Canon”
How you can support The Other Wave
My professional mission has always been to support the global movement towards more thoughtful, impactful news coverage, and all the ways that manifests. If The Other Wave gets you to think even a little differently about journalism, especially in Canada, then I will have accomplished what I set out to do. And if TOW gets you to take action and support Canadian media outlets — especially ones that strive to be innovative and inclusive — I will have exceeded my expectations.
If my values and goals resonate with you, please consider supporting fiercely independent media analysis that fills in gaps in coverage of the Canadian journalism landscape. How? Feel free to provide feedback, pass along resources, donate money or simply share this newsletter with your friends.