We’re proud to introduce our 2021 Local Journalism Fellows. The fellowship is a 10-week, paid opportunity for aspiring and emerging journalists from communities underrepresented in journalism. This year’s fellows will be working alongside us as we prepare our fall issue on precarious labour. We’re thrilled to welcome Reina Cowan, Zeahaa Rehman, Tahmeed Shafiq, and Mirusha Yogarajah to The Local!
Reina Cowan is a writer and radio host from Ontario. Her work has appeared in The Charlatan, Stories North, TRAD Magazine, and on CKCU-FM. She is interested in storytelling with a purpose to empower marginalized communities.
Zeahaa (pronounced Zaha) Rehman is a Pakistani-Canadian freelance journalist who likes deconstructing everything from pop culture to politics with an intersectional lens. Her work has been published in The Walrus, Chatelaine, Flare Canada, The RepresentAsian Project, and more.
Tahmeed Shafiq is a writer and journalist. He is interested in stories that are complicated, technical, and intrinsically human. He is an undergraduate at the University of Toronto. His journalism has appeared in The Varsity and The Pigeon, and his fiction has appeared in Lightspeed Magazine.
Mirusha is a filmmaker, writer, and artist who grew up in Texas and currently resides in Toronto, Canada. Their work aims to interrogate the multifaceted experiences of being a person on the margins and the delicate and intimate experiences they host alongside survival. They enjoy their friends, their dog Neptune, and Bananagrams.
More from this issue
The Local Receives Three National Journalism Award Nominations
Our community stories from 2023 are finalists for the Canadian Association of Journalists awards
The Transit Boss Torontonians Love to Hate
When Phil Verster was announced as Metrolinx’s CEO in 2017, there was universal praise. But with an $856,000 salary and a tenure defined by cost overruns and years of delays to projects like the Eglinton LRT, critics want him out. How did it go so wrong?
Tenants See Evictions; Their Landlord Sees a Revolutionary New Business Model
As CEO of Harrington Housing, Jonas Emre says he’s “transforming” the rental sector with a new model of flexible co-living. Tenants say he’s evicting them, subdividing their apartments, and attempting to sidestep the protections of the RTA.
Results from The Local’s Annual Diversity Survey
Every year The Local conducts a diversity survey among staff and contributors. See how we did in 2023.
The Local Journalism Fellowship 2024
Now in its fifth year, the program provides training and mentorship to aspiring and emerging journalists from communities underrepresented in Canadian media.
The Local’s 2023 Year in Review
Favourite stories, best reporting trip meals, worst Big Tech dustups—a Local end-of-year staff roundtable.
Parthi Kandavel Wins Scarborough Southwest By-Election
The former TDSB trustee beat out a field of 23 to become Ward 20's newest city councillor.
Live Results from Scarborough Southwest By-Election
Real-time results from election night, starting at 8 p.m. on November 30, 2023.
Here Are the Scarborough Southwest By-Election Candidates
The only place to find fact-checked biographies and election platform summaries for every candidate running for Ward 20—Scarborough Southwest in the November 30, 2023 by-election.
Minor Tweaks to Road Safety Policy Won’t Get Us to Zero
City council just approved a series of changes to Toronto’s Vision Zero program—but the improvements fail to address a key weakness in the way the program is run.