Freelance journalists are offered a chance to get hostile environment training

LONDON, ON, March 15, 2017 /CNW/ - The Forum Freelance Fund (FFF) today opened its 2017 competition for bursaries to help freelance journalists attend hostile environment training. Twenty-four Canadian freelancers or foreign freelancers working for Canadian media have already been helped by the fund. 

The FFF bursary competition is run annually by the Canadian Journalism Forum on Violence and Trauma, an educational charity concerned with the physical and mental wellbeing of journalists. 

The Rules for the 2017 competition are available on the Forum's website. The bursaries are worth $CDN 2,500 each. 

In a separate competition opening in May, the Forum also offers The Portenier Human Rights Bursary, which is open to freelance journalists and independent documentary-makers of any nationality with significant projects focused on human rights abuses. This bursary of $CDN 3,000 is also for hostile environment training.

Both competitions are run in association with the Rory Peck Trust (RPT), a UK-based charity for freelancers. The Forum and RPT are both members of the ACOS Alliance, an unprecedented coalition of news organizations, freelance journalist associations and press freedom organizations working together to champion safe and responsible journalistic practices for freelance and local journalists.

The FFF bursaries are sponsored by CBC News and supported by Radio-Canada, CNW Group and individual donors. The Forum in general is supported by The Globe and Mail.

Forum president Cliff Lonsdale said: "We don't encourage  freelancers to put themselves at risk. Rather, we want to help them prepare for what might confront them at any time. The world has become a very dangerous place for journalists, and freelancers working without the backing of a single employer are particularly at risk."

Applications for 2017 FFF Bursaries will close on April 15.

Our thanks to CNW Group for supporting this announcement.

SOURCE Canadian Journalism Forum on Violence and Trauma

For further information: Please see the Canadian Journalism Forum website http://www.journalismforum.ca or contact Jane Hawkes, Executive Producer, Canadian Journalism Forum on Violence and Trauma, ‪1-519 852-4946, [e-mail]