(Fellows pictured from L to R: Owen Guo, Pacinthe Mattar, Blaise Eyong, Vinita Srivastava, Jordan Michael Smith)
Massey College Journalism Fellow
Owen Guo is a freelance journalist in Toronto. He’s written about immigration, North America’s response to COVID-19 and the 2025 Canadian federal election. Born and raised in China, he reported for The New York Times between 2015 and 2018. He has also freelanced for the Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, Al Jazeera English, the BBC, the Washington Post, and NPR, among others. A graduate of the Munk School’s global affairs program, he’s currently exploring a book project on Canadian niceness.
St. Clair Balfour Fellow
Pacinthe Mattar is an independent journalist, writer and producer. Born in Egypt and raised between Canada, Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E, she spent a decade at the CBC producing for national radio and television programmes. In 2021, she received a National Magazine Award for her feature essay, “Objectivity Is A Privilege Afforded to White Journalists.” She was the 2022 Martin Wise Goodman Nieman Fellow at Harvard University and the 2023 Asper Fellow in Media at Western University.
Gordon N. Fisher / Journalists for Human Rights Fellow
Blaise Eyong is a Cameroonian multimedia journalist with over a decade of experience. He has contributed to several international news networks, including CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera, DW and Reuters, often reporting in hostile environments. In particular, he has reported on the Boko Haram insurgency, the separatist armed conflict in the west of Cameroon and the long-standing political climate. Risking his life and his freedom, Blaise’s courageous journalism brings to light important events in a harsh environment.
Massey College Journalism Fellow
Vinita Srivastava is an award-winning journalist and educator, blending expertise in news media with higher education for over two decades. From her early work as a research editor at The New York Times Magazine to her current roles as senior culture editor at The Conversation Canada and executive producer and host of Don’t Call Me Resilient podcast (2024 Anthem Gold Medal winner), she is committed to telling stories that challenge the status quo and spotlight voices long overlooked in mainstream media.
Webster McConnell Fellow
Jordan Michael Smith is a Contributing Writer at The New Republic. His writing has appeared in print and online for many publications in Canada and the United States, including the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Maclean’s, the New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, and Harper’s. His essay on Arabs and Jews in Canada won the 2024 Dalton Camp Award from FRIENDS of Canadian Media, and he won the Richard J. Margolis Award for Social Justice Journalism in 2023.
