Massey College is the recipient of this year’s Canadian Association of Journalists’ President Award for its significant contributions to Canadian journalism. The president’s award was created and is awarded at the president’s discretion to any individuals or organizations that have made exemplary contributions to Canadian journalism. Massey College, home to the William Southam Journalism Fellowships, was selected as this year’s recipient by CAJ president and a former Fisher Fellow Hugo Rodrigues, who said:
“Fifty years ago last week, Weekend Magazine’s Stephen Franklin, the Calgary Herald’s William Gold, the Toronto Telegram’s Andrew Macfarlane and Claude Tessier of Le Soleil in Quebec City completed a unique experience for any Canadian journalist for the very first time.
Over the years, others would tread the same ground those four journalists did. Who, you might ask?
Journalists such as Jack Best, Allan Fotheringham, Alan Anderson, Richard Purser, Peter Moon, Peter Ward, Peter Jackman, Peter Buckley, Harry Bruce, Marian Bruce, Martin O’Malley, Francois Aubin, Maggie Siggins, Gordon Fisher, John Miller, Christina McCall Newman, Michael Enright, Catherine Ford, Susan Riley, Peter Calamai, Michael Cooke, Murray Campbell, Leslie Scrivener, Ann Johnston, Christopher Grosskurth, Bob Carty, Stephen Bindman – a past-president of the CAJ, Anne Mullens, Jennifer Dundas, Sandra Bartlett, Helen Branswell, Doug Fisher, Lois Sweet, Dawna Friesen, John Ibbitson, Juliet O’Neill, Anne Marie Owens, Lou Clancy, Catherine Wallace, Joan Leishman, Sean O’Malley, Lynne Robson, Shawn Blore, Teddy Katz, Don Butler, Avril Benoit, Kirk Makin, Maureen Brosnahan, Marcus Gee, Kevin Sylvester, Susan Delacourt, Eric Foss, Robert Cribb— another past-president of the CAJ, Mary Agnes Welch— another past-president and… even me.
Over the years, we and dozens of others have had the privilege of being named Southam Fellows, Canadian Journalism Fellows and, most recently, William Southam Journalism Fellows at Massey College in the University of Toronto. It is, bar none, a life-changing experience for all the journalists who’ve completed it.
The program, thanks to its healthy roster of funders and supporters, allows journalists to benefit from an eight-month, paid, sabbatical from professional work to imbibe in all that a graduate interdisciplinary college has to offer. Southam fellows have access to the wonderful facilities of the college itself, the inspiring graduate students, senior fellows and residents who give it life and through Massey College the entire world of the University of Toronto.
Fellows owe their experience to the vision of two former executives of the former Southam Newspaper Group. St. Clair Balfour and Gordon N. Fisher. These two gentlemen dreamed up the fellowship program in 1961, with an eye to modelling it on the Nieman Fellowships at Harvard. Those first four fellows started their term in the fall of 1962— a full year before the opening of Massey College to graduate students.
Faced with almost-certain death about 12 years ago, Massey College Master John Fraser, supported by Anna Luengo and the broader college community rescued and resuscitated the program. Just over a week ago, at the end of the first of two years celebrating Massey College’s 50th anniversary, the most recent six William Southam Journalism Fellows ended their eight-month stint.
Aside from the significant role the fellowship program plays in Canadian journalism, Massey College has also – particularly under John Fraser’s stewardship – become a haven for journalists. It has saved a number of us, providing a safe space to refresh and re-evaluate the reasons why we love this craft. Recently, it also became a home away from home for the annual Atkinson Fellows, offering an academic space from which to conduct work.
As it completes its 50th anniversary celebrations this year, I can think of no better time to recognize and acknowledge the immeasurable contribution that Massey College has made to journalism and journalists in Canada.”
