Carleton University Master of Journalism graduate Tamara Merritt will be heading to Yellowknife to take up a paid internship with CBC North through a Carleton program established with the help of long-time journalism professor Mary McGuire.
Merritt will spend two months with CBC North in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, working in a paid reporter/editor position and will receive financial support for travel and living costs from a donor fund named in honour of McGuire, who retired from Carleton five years ago because of illness.
This paid summer internship is offered annually through a partnership with CBC North and provides broadcast, reporting and writing experience to a student who has expressed a desire to learn more about Canada’s North and its Indigenous peoples.
“I’m just really grateful for this internship because I’ve never been anywhere in the North before but it is something that has always been in the back of mind. But it simply wouldn’t have been possible without an internship like this,” Merritt said in a Zoom exchange with McGuire after receiving news of the award. “For me this is about stepping out of that comfort zone of everywhere else in Canada.”
The program is the brainchild of McGuire, who approached the CBC with a proposal to create the internships and a commitment to establish a special fund at Carleton to help cover the high cost of travel and accommodation for students selected for these internships at CBC North.
“Most Canadians carry a sense of the North within them, it’s part of who we think we are, even though most of us have never been there,” McGuire said. “I had never seen the North before I had the chance to go and work there, but it isn’t a hard place to fall in love with.”
McGuire started her journalism career in Whitehorse and the North holds a special place in her heart. She was a fixture in the Carleton journalism faculty for close to three decades before cancer took her out of the classroom.
Tamara Merritt and Mary McGuire met on Zoom to talk about Merritt’s plans for Yellowknife
“I’m just so happy to be part of creating this opportunity for students to be able to launch their career in the North,” McGuire said. “And I’m really excited that this project has continued and I’m really grateful that good students like Tamara are interested,’’ McGuire said.
All students in Carleton’s journalism program are eligible to apply for the program, but preference has always been given to students who are in their graduating year.
“It’s really beneficial for young journalists to work in a newsroom that covers so many diverse communities in northern Canada,” said Mervin Brass, Senior Managing Director, CBC North. “You get an opportunity to learn about Indigenous languages, cultures and life in the North. This is a career changing experience that will help you become a more rounded journalist and understand the important role local journalists play for northern communities.”
Born in Hamilton, Merritt spent much of her youth living in Central Asia. Living abroad sparked a life-long love for travel, new experiences and connecting with people from all walks of life. Merritt moved back to Canada to finish her education and completed a Bachelor of Global and International Studies. Yet, she was always interested in pursuing journalism. After her undergraduate degree she decided to complete a Master of Journalism and her love for the craft grew.
Merritt has worked with a few newspapers, such as the Globe and Mail, has reported on two different continents and has covered topics from Iceland’s best waterfalls to medical assistance in dying in Canada. She says she is thrilled to be moving to Yellowknife this summer and can’t wait for the new adventures this opportunity will bring.
Carleton’s journalism program supports a number of different internships for journalism students across the country, but few exist in newsrooms in northern or Indigenous communities, in part because travel and accommodation costs are a barrier to most students.
Carleton continues to accept contributions to the Mary McGuire Journalism Internship Travel Fund on an ongoing basis. In addition to its primary function, supporting participants in the CBC North program, the McGuire fund also provides some travel support to other Carleton journalism students who take up paid internships in Canada’s North.
Sunday, May 11, 2025 in Journalism News, News
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