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, data journalism and commentary, alongside multimedia and other experimental forms of storytelling.

The aim of The Local Journalism Fellowship is to provide training and mentorship to aspiring and emerging journalists from communities underrepresented in Canadian media, and to tell stories on subjects and from perspectives too often ignored. Fellows will work with our team through the editorial cycle and produce one polished piece of journalism.

The Local Journalism Fellowship is a paid 13-week opportunity for emerging and aspiring journalists to:

• Gain first-hand experience working alongside editors and collaborators through one quarterly cycle
• Create a piece of polished journalism for publication; projects can be reported features, first-person essays, data journalism, photo essays, or other forms
• Learn the craft of magazine-style, community journalism and make industry connections through a seminar series featuring guest speakers from other leading publications

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 June 5, 2023 and ends August 31. It is part-time (equivalent to approximately two days per week) and flexible. Other than weekly editorial team meetings and seminars, fellows are free to organize their own schedules as long as deadlines are met. The weekly editorial meetings take place face-to-face at our office at 10 Adelaide Street East, but virtual options may be possible on a case-by-case basis.

Fellows will be paid $4,000. Up to four fellows will be chosen.

HOW TO APPLY

Applicants should send a cover letter introducing themselves and expressing how the Fellowship would benefit them. Applications should also include a CV, writing sample, and a brief pitch for a story that could appear in The Local. Pitches should, broadly, be about social issues in the greater Toronto area and should be no more than 500 words. Examples of published articles by past Fellows include a data-driven story on public education, a feature about the city’s Tamil press, an investigation into precarious college instructors, a photo essay about the Latin American parishioners of a local church, and personal essays on how different cultural communities view voting or aging. Please submit your application using the form below:

Submission Deadline: March 20, 2023. Please note that we will be interviewing candidates as applications come in, so do not hesitate to submit your applications prior to the deadline.

Applications are now closed.