New scholarship launches for African Nova Scotian youth to pursue journalism

A new scholarship has been created to encourage African Nova Scotian youth to become journalists.

The scholarship, the Global News Journalism Award, is intended to support diversity in not only journalism classrooms, but eventually in newsrooms across Canada.

Global News Halifax and the University of King’s College made the announcement of the $10,700 scholarship Tuesday afternoon at Nova Scotia Community College’s Ivany Campus in Dartmouth in front of a group of budding journalists.

The group of 13 students are part of J-School Noire, a one-day workshop offered at NSCC designed to introduce Black youth in grades seven to 12 to the journalism profession, with the ultimate aim of encouraging them to apply to journalism school and eventually pursue careers in the field.

Recognizing the need for diversity in newsrooms and amongst journalists, the Global News Award will be given to a King’s journalism student who is African Canadian with preference given to an African Nova Scotian applicant.

Doug Ruck, chair of King’s College board of governors and representing King’s at Tuesday’s J-School Noire workshop, told the students, “learning how to research, conduct interviews, write and produce stories for print and broadcast mediums is about more than just acquiring skills.

“It’s about using these technical competencies to tell stories that matter — that matter to you, and that matter to your communities.”

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Atlantic Director for the Canadian Association of Black Journalists and J-School Noire organizer Brian Daly says now is the perfect time for young people to get involved in telling their own stories.

“The world needs to hear the voices of Black youth in Canada, whether it be as sportscasters, filmmakers, or social media influencers,” said Daly. “Technology makes this easier than ever before.

“I want to see our young people create bold and exciting content that will drive the culture forward, as our people have done for many years.”

The CABJ also support young journalists through coaching and mentorship.

Director of the School of Journalism at King’s College Tim Currie says he’s grateful for the support Global News has shown for journalism education at King’s through this award.

“The Global Journalism News Award is going to provide a wonderful opportunity for one of our future students to join the journalism community,” Currie said.

“They’ll have the financial support to succeed in the program and gain the skills to join the next generation of storytellers.”

The Global News Journalism Award will be given to a student starting their honours journalism degree at King’s in 2020-2021. NSCC, King’s and Global Halifax are sponsors of J-School Noire.