Safety training bursaries for freelance journalists now available year-round.

LONDON, ON, Oct. 8, 2021 /CNW/ - Freelancers seeking help with hostile environment and other safety training are now able to apply for bursaries year-round, instead of once a year.

The Canadian Journalism Forum on Violence and Trauma has updated its bursary system, which has, in the past ten years, helped 40 freelancers undergo the same professional training for work in dangerous places that major journalism organizations provide for their staff.

The change to a rolling application system applies both to regular Forum Freelance Fund bursaries for freelancers covering news and to Portenier Human Rights Bursaries, available to independents undertaking long-form investigative work to expose human rights violations that may also put them in danger.

Applications in both streams will be considered by a standing jury, the majority of whose members are independent of the Forum, Canadian media organizations and sponsors.

Forum president Cliff Lonsdale said: "The pandemic made it difficult for our approved course providers everywhere to run their usual range of courses in person, and the uncertainty cut the flow of applications. It also gave us a chance to re-evaluate and offer bursaries on a more flexible basis that better suits current conditions.

"It also gave us an opportunity to supplement training offered by our stable of approved course providers, on occasion, by co-operating ad hoc with our partner organizations in the global ACOS (A Culture Of Safety) Alliance, to increase the range of safety training opportunities to match freelancers more specific needs. It doesn't have to be for the full Hostile Environment and First Aid Training (HEFAT). We can say to freelancers: tell us your need and we'll see if we can help you take care of it."

A list of nine approved training organizations around the world is published on the Forum's website, and a tenth is expected to be added soon - offering training in Canada in French.

Lonsdale said:  "A quarter of our bursaries since we started offering them in 2011 have gone to francophone journalists, all of whom had to take their courses in English because French instruction was not available at the necessary level. If arrangements go to plan, that's about to change."

The Forum is also adjusting the definition of freelancers for bursary purposes to take account of arrangements through which some now work indirectly. Details are on the website. The Forum is increasing its budget for safety training bursaries in line with these changes.

All Forum bursaries will continue to be offered, as from the start, in co-operation with the UK-based Rory Peck Trust, which also runs its own bursary scheme for freelance safety training.

The FFF bursaries are supported by CBC News and Radio-Canada and individual donations; the Portenier Human Rights Bursaries are supported by the internationally-acclaimed documentarist Giselle Portenier and others. The Forum receives other support from The Globe and Mail, the Mental Health Commission of Canada, and Cision, which we thank for sponsoring this news release.

The Forum is a registered charity which promotes the physical and psychological health of journalists in Canada and abroad. It also promotes ethical treatment of others involved in or affected by media coverage.

SOURCE Canadian Journalism Forum on Violence and Trauma