Citizen fellowship winner to focus on trauma’s impact
Ottawa Citizen reporter Matthew Pearson is the recipient of this year’s Michener-Deacon Fellowship for Journalism Education.
Pearson, who covers city hall, plans to develop a teaching module for journalism instructors and an online portal for newsrooms across Canada to help students and working journalists better understand trauma and its impact.
In his application for the fellowship, Pearson said his interest in work-related trauma grew after profiling a survivor of the 2013 OC Transpo Via Rail crash.
“I’m really honoured. I think it’s a tremendous opportunity to research something that is vitally important to both journalism students and working journalists today,” said Pearson, who will begin his four-month project in January.
“I hope to help newsrooms and journalism schools become more trauma-informed, and what I mean by that is that we would hope to begin understanding, recognizing and even responding to the effects of trauma on the individual or the group at the centre of the story, as well as the journalist assigned to cover them.”
Pearson, who is also a part-time journalism instructor at Carleton University, will also organize a multi-disciplinary symposium at the university for journalism students to hear from experts on trauma and to speak with journalists who have covered traumatic events.
“I am pleased to see Matthew Pearson’s project recognized by the Michener-Deacon Fellowship,” said Michelle Richardson, editor of the Citizen and the Ottawa Sun.
“Journalists often interact with people during the worst moments of their lives, and we are only beginning to fully understand the impact of trauma both on the subjects of our coverage and on our colleagues in the newsroom.”
Print journalist Valérie Borde is this year’s recipient of the Michener-Deacon Fellowship for Investigative Reporting. Borde will investigate the institutions responsible for food safety in Canada to see if they are effectively protecting the public from fraudulent food claims and products.
The Michener Award, founded in 1970 by the late Roland Michener, then governor general, honours excellence in public-service journalism. The judges’ decisions are heavily influenced by the degree of public benefit generated by the print, broadcast and online entries submitted for consideration.
The fellowship provides $30,000 and accountable expenses of up to $5,000.
Gov. Gen. David Johnston will host the Michener Awards ceremony at Rideau Hall on June 14 where the Michener-Deacon Fellowships will be presented and the winner of the 2016 Michener Award for public service journalism will be announced.