Applications are now open for the 2026 BC Journalism Fellowships
The Lieutenant Governor’s BC Journalism Fellowship was created to advance strong, investigative, independent, and public-interest journalism on issues and stories relevant to British Columbians.
Launched in 2022 as part of celebrations in honour of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee, an additional fellowship was established in 2025 by the Honourable Wendy Cocchia, 31st Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia. The program currently includes two annual fellowships, which will be available each year of Her Honour’s term.
Made possible with support from the Government House Foundation, the first two fellowships under this expanded program feature the United Nations Association in Canada as an Honorary Partner, in the spirit of providing a national and international platform for the work of local journalists.
Administration of the fellowship, including judging of entries, is done in partnership with the Jack Webster Foundation, an organization that fosters and celebrates excellence in journalism to protect the public interest for British Columbians.
The Fellowship
It is often the dream of many journalists to have the time and resources to produce ambitious, in-depth reporting on critically important issues that are in the public interest. The Lieutenant Governor’s BC Journalism Fellowship provides funding to journalists so they can invest the time and other resources in producing excellent in-depth, investigative coverage on a topic of their choosing. The objective is to support journalists in their ambition to go above and beyond daily coverage, tackle underreported issues, and deliver deep, complex storytelling to better inform British Columbians.
For each year of the Honourable Wendy Cocchia’s mandate, journalists at any stage of their career (emerging or experienced) will have the opportunity to apply for one of two annual fellowships. The fellowships will provide a monetary award of up to $20,000 each to research, produce, and publish an ambitious journalism project. The project may be in any medium (such as print, digital, broadcast, audio, video, or multimedia) and must be supported by a committed publishing or broadcast partner.
Application and Selection Process
The selection process for the fellowship is open to new, emerging, or returning journalists who have a proven capability to craft a professional level of journalism.
The prospective fellows are expected to develop and submit a detailed, comprehensive, and well researched proposal. In the interest of being inclusive of all British Columbians and accessible to all communities, fellowship applications in other languages will be considered, and should include and amount for translation in the budget application.
More details and applications are available on the Jack Webster Foundation page.
The jury is comprised of current and retired journalists and media specialists, in addition to professionals and community leaders with lived experience to evaluate journalistic work.
The jury for 2026 will be:
Susan Danard
Shushma Datt
Pamela Fayerman
Margo Harper
Pauline Rafferty
Shachi Kurl
Nancy McHarg
Hayley Woodin-Hastings
Read the news release for the Lieutenant Governor’s BC Journalism Fellowship.
Previous Fellows
The 2024 Lieutenant Governor’s BC Journalism Fellow
The 2024 Lieutenant Governor’s BC Journalism Fellow was Michele Brunoro, an award-winning senior reporter and anchor for CTV News Vancouver with 30 years of journalism experience.
As part of her series, Hidden in Plain Sight, Ms. Brunoro produced online stories, in addition to a TV broadcast piece, focusing on human trafficking in British Columbia. Brunoro’s project included exploring victim backgrounds, the effectiveness of laws in B.C., preventive efforts, and the work of British Columbians to help victims in other parts of the world.
The 2023 Lieutenant Governor’s BC Journalism Fellow
The 2023 Lieutenant Governor’s BC Journalism Fellow was Kim Bolan, an award-winning journalist who has covered gangs in British Columbia for the past 25 years. Bolan was awarded funds to produce a series of articles on the increasing international tentacles of BC gangs and organized crime groups.
Bolan’s five-part series was published in the Vancouver Sun, beginning January 22, 2024 and can be read here: Lethal Exports: B.C. gangsters at the centre of a global drug trade (part 1).
The 2022 Lieutenant Governor’s BC Journalism Fellow
The first recipient of the 2022 Lieutenant Governor’s BC Journalism Fellowship was Francesca Fionda, an experienced investigative and data journalist, journalism instructor and adjunct professor.
Her work Bracing for Disasters, a multi-part series published in The Tyee starting on April 3, 2023, explored the gaps in support for evacuees of climate disasters in British Columbia. Fionda’s series can be read in The Tyee: Bracing for Disasters (part 1).