The Local is an award-winning online publication devoted to exploring urban health and social issues in Toronto, with an emphasis on magazine-style journalism and reporting from local communities. We publish in-depth features, essays and opinions, along with multimedia and other experimental forms of storytelling.

In our COVID-19 coverage, it has become clear that many of the neighbourhoods and communities most affected by the pandemic are also underrepresented in the media. The aim of The Local Journalism Fellowship is both to provide training and mentorship to aspiring and emerging journalists from these communities, and to tell stories on subjects and from perspectives too often ignored.

The Local Journalism Fellowship is a paid 10-week opportunity for emerging and aspiring journalists to:

• Gain first-hand experience working alongside editors and collaborators through one editorial cycle that culminates in the publication of The Local’s Winter 2021 issue
• Create a piece of polished journalism for publication in the Winter 2021 issue; projects can be reported features, first-person essays, audio stories, or other forms
• Learn the craft of community journalism through an intimate and interactive weekly seminar series featuring guest speakers from leading publications and journalism schools

Candidates with journalism experience and education are welcome, but we are also eager to hear from applicants who are passionate about writing, editing or producing, but do not have formal journalism training.

The Fellowship begins September 22, 2020 and ends in the final week of November 2020. Participation is part-time, remote and flexible. With the exception of weekly editorial team meetings and seminars, fellows are free to organize their own schedules as long as deadlines are met.

Fellows will be paid $2,500. Up to four fellows will be chosen.

HOW TO APPLY

Applicants should send a cover letter introducing themselves, expressing how the Fellowship will benefit them and/or their community, and briefly describing the kind of story they would be interested in pursuing. Applications should also include a CV and a writing sample.

Email applications to info@thelocal.to with the subject line “The Local Journalism Fellowship 2020 Application.”

Submission Deadline: August 14, 2020

The Local Journalism Fellowship is supported by the Government of Canada’s Emergency Community Support Fund and Toronto Foundation.