Three of Carleton’s top journalism students are among the winners of this year’s CBC News Summer Scholarship in memory of Joan Donaldson and Peter Gzowski.
In total, 14 young journalists from across the country were selected for the four-month, in-person program that provides valuable hands-on experience in multiplatform news environments. As CBC noted in its announcement, the scholarship replaces and builds on the successes of two former CBC programs for emerging journalists — the Joan Donaldson Scholarship and the Peter Gzowski Internship — bringing them together in one program.
“The program is designed to give high-potential emerging journalists experience in both CBC News’ national programming units in Toronto, as well as regional newsrooms across the country, setting them up for potential employment at CBC in the long term,” CBC said.
The 2025 program will run from May 1 through August 31, 2025. May and June will be spent in Toronto at the CBC Broadcast Centre; July and August will be spent in a CBC regional station.
We are enormously proud of the three Carleton students who are among the recipients and share here their bios as posted by CBC:
Justin Fiacconi
Justin Fiacconi is a multimedia journalist from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., with a spirited interest in telling stories related to global affairs, human rights, geopolitical conflict, elections, and the intersection of international politics and sports. Born with a curious mind and a love of learning, Justin holds a master’s degree in international affairs from Carleton University and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Algoma University. He’s anticipating graduating from the master of
journalism program at Carleton University in April, where he received the Diane King Stuemer award supporting his travels to Norway for his capstone journalism project. Justin has also interned with CBC’s parliamentary bureau and spent the summer of 2024 in Ghana working as a Carleton intern with Farm Radio International, where he made a podcast episode about how a remote Ghanaian community had been resisting pressure to cut down its forest for charcoal burning. His work is published in CBC News, Canada’s National Observer, Ottawa Citizen, and Capital Current. Justin has also developed a passion for documentary filmmaking and hopes to expand his video journalism skill set moving forward. You can find him playing tennis or soccer, watching movies, or practicing his French language skills when he’s not working.
Charlotte Lepage
Charlotte Lepage is an Ottawa/Gatineau-based journalist who loves to connect with passionate people and tell their stories. She’ll cover just about anything, but science, agriculture, environment, and community topics hold a special place in her heart. She’s always wanted to be a writer and started writing “books” in her Hilroy Canada notebooks when she was eight. Charlotte also found a passion for radio after an internship with CBC’s Quebec AM show, after which she was hired as a researcher to continue her exceptional work with the team. She is graduating from Carleton University with a bachelor’s in journalism with honours and a minor in criminology. She made the Dean’s list every year, received multiple scholarships to honour her outstanding work, and was vice president of finance for Carleton’s Journalism Society. Her work has appeared in the CBC, Capital Current, and student publications. She loves to know everything there is to know about a subject and will gladly spend hours in a research rabbit hole. Outside work, you can find her learning about mythology and ancient history, reading books and catching up on the dozens of newsletters she’s subscribed to.
Sarah St-Pierre
Sarah St-Pierre is a bilingual multimedia journalist from Notre-Dame-du-Bon-Conseil, Que. She is graduating from Carleton University’s master of journalism program, where she became passionate about broadcast journalism. There, she received the Martin Newland Award for news reporting, as well as the Peter Stursberg Award in conflict journalism to support her master’s research project on economic reconciliation in the mining industry. Her CBC roots are with CBC
Radio in Quebec City. There, she worked as an intern and researcher. She spent last summer in Zambia, as a Carleton intern reporting on how smallholder farmers were adapting to a historic drought for Farm Radio International’s Nature Answers podcast. Her work has also been published by CIM Magazine, Capital Current and The Mainstreeter. Sarah graduated from McGill University with a first-class honours B.A. in international development studies. During her undergrad, she was editor-in-chief of Catalyst, a student-led international development publication. She spoke to audiences about the role of radio in development at the 2024 Futures Forum hosted by Cooperation Canada, and hosted the keynote session at the Reimagining Political Journalism conference hosted by Carleton’s School of Journalism in 2024. When she’s not reporting, Sarah likes to obsess over storytelling, shoot film photography, try out new recipes and browse flea markets.
Thursday, April 17, 2025 in General, Journalism News
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