Marco Gobbatto | Staff Writer
Featured image: Osgoode Hall Law School continues to merge law and journalism, having recently won the 2016 Canadian Law Blog Awards. | Matt Dionne
Osgoode Hall Law School is funding a new Journalist in Residence program to help bring law stories to the school’s community.
The Journalist in Residence will work on stories to aid in the learning process of law students through the interpretation of historic law, the realities of law today and social issues relevant to Osgoode students.
The chosen applicant will receive $25,000 with an additional $5,000 for other expenses.
In a press release, Osgoode Dean Lorna Sossin stated that the project will help increase the levels of cross-department collaboration at York.
“We hope this program will enliven our approach to advocacy, reach, access, professionalism and the potential for collaboration between the legal and journalism communities,” he said.
Sossin further explained that the program was designed to enrich the teaching of law and how it is perceived in society.
“[The program will] expand the ways law is taught, and how we share stories about justice and the impact of law in our society and in our world,” Sossin added.
Applications are welcome from journalists from all media outlets: digital, print, radio, podcasts and television.
Communication studies graduate Seran Madhavan believes that a program like this is required to provide quality in a sea of viral media.
“The news environment is changing. It is by-the-second news, which means that people who want news fast don’t really care about the depth or quality,” he says.
Hukam Mann, a communication studies graduate, thinks people in the communications department would be eager to learn more about the program.
“It is interesting to me, and especially people who want to do this in the future, to have an opportunity to explore [investigative journalism] in school,” says Mann.
The program is one of multiple initiatives provided by the school to bring awareness to the legal process at York.
It is jointly funded by Osgoode’s Fund for Innovation in Law & Media and the Art Vertlieb Q.C. Fund.
The successful applicant will remain at York for one semester with the possibility of a full year. Applications are being accepted now for the first semester, which starts in Fall 2017.
