Newsletter: Calling all creative & curious youth in/from care for our 2018 Fellowships

This piece originally appeared in our child welfare newsletter. In Brielle’s bi-weekly newsletter, she writes about her investigations, community work and the ethical questions she’s wrestling with. She really appreciates feedback and ideas, so if you’re someone with insights on the system, consider subscribing.

We’re welcoming applications for our 2018 Youth in/from Care Media Fellowships.

Are you a creative and curious youth with lived experience of the child-welfare system? Do you want to work with journalists to improve child-welfare reporting? Are you passionate about writing and producing stories? Consider applying or forwarding this newsletter to a youth who might be into this opportunity.

Earlier this year I asked our inaugural 2017 fellows, Dylan Cohen and Diana Oproescu, to reflect on their fellowship experiences.

Dylan says he valued:

• Feeling trusted to do good work: “I had a lot of freedom within the fellowship and that was because of you just placing value on my strengths and assuming that I could do things that I wanted to.”
• Feedback and mentorship. He liked getting line-by-line writing feedback and learning about video production.
• Planning the workshop series for journalists and connecting with others at the workshops.  
• The chance to gain some perspective on the media industry. He says he walked away with “a better understanding of how to approach journalists.” While he says he felt uneasy interrupting the quiet in our office space (feedback noted!), he liked seeing the collaborative work happening between journalists from different organizations.

Diana says she valued:

• • Connecting with people who are connected to the child-welfare system from so many different angles, especially other youth.
  • The chance to develop and grow on a personal level. She says the fellowship helped her put her own experience in perspective and a broader context. She feels like a “much more informed person and sensitive person.”
  • Learning about issues affecting Indigenous people in Canada.
  • Learning journalism skills: How to keep in mind the chief task at hand, and keep returning to that. Building photography and writing skills.
  • Having a mentor/teacher. She would have liked more opportunities to get to know the different journalists on our team and the work they’re doing (noted!) 

If you think you’re a great fit for this fellowship, send us your application by April 23. [end]