As religion reporting disappears from newsrooms across Canada, the Winnipeg Free Press and Broadview are launching a new partnership designed to sustain and expand coverage of faith, spirituality and ethics in Winnipeg.
The initiative will support the Winnipeg Free Press’s religion beat, the last dedicated religion reporting position in a major Canadian newsroom.
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“This partnership ensures thoughtful, nuanced religion reporting continues to be part of the public conversation. Religion is all too often dismissed, discounted and derided. We believe faith remains a strong influence on public life,” says Paul Samyn, editor of the Winnipeg Free Press. “At a time when many news organizations have stepped away from this beat, we are committed to strengthening it. To ignore the impact faith perspectives and communities have on our national discourse would be to shortchange our audience.”
Under the partnership, the two organizations will share a journalist focused on religion reporting. The Winnipeg Free Press will remain the primary editorial home for the reporting position. Broadview will support the role through charitable fundraising, provide staffing oversight, some editing and share stories with its national audience. Features produced through the partnership will appear in the Winnipeg Free Press, with some published on Broadview’s platforms, reaching both local and national audiences.
“Questions of faith, meaning and ethics continue to shape our communities and our country,” says Jocelyn Bell, editor and publisher of Broadview. “This partnership is about ensuring those stories are told with depth, care and journalistic integrity and about exploring new ways to sustain specialized journalism.”
“This is about more than one newsroom,” Bell adds. “It’s about exploring how media organizations can work together to ensure important journalism doesn’t disappear.”
The partnership also marks a thoughtful handoff between two journalists with deep connections to Winnipeg and religion journalism.
Since the Free Press launched the Religion in the News project in 2019, veteran journalist John Longhurst has been central to its success, shepherding the beat and building the community support that has sustained it. Longhurst will continue to be involved with the project for a period of time, helping with the transition and sharing his deep knowledge of Winnipeg’s faith communities.
Josiah Neufeld begins as the new Religion in the News reporter on May 4. A Winnipeg journalist, author and editor, Neufeld has written for Broadview, The Walrus, The Breach, Hazlitt and other publications, and has deep roots in Manitoba journalism, including early work as a Winnipeg Free Press intern and reporting roles with Canstar Community Newspapers and the Stonewall-Teulon Tribune. His work has been recognized with a gold National Magazine Award, an Amnesty International Canada Media Award and the A.C. Forrest Memorial Award for socially conscious religious journalism.
This is a pilot project. A proof of concept for how independent media organizations can work together to sustain important journalism.
For Broadview, it’s part of our strategic vision: to grow our voice and presence in the Canadian media landscape so that we can be a force for good and foster positive dialogue in our country.
If successful, this model could be expanded to other newsrooms across Canada, helping ensure stories of faith, ethics and meaning continue to be told. It represents a shift in how Broadview operates — from a magazine with a national scope to a media organization that combines a national publication with collaborative local reporting in communities across the country. Together, Broadview and the Winnipeg Free Press believe this reporting matters and that it deserves a future. With your support, this partnership can help shape how essential journalism is sustained across Canada.
Make a tax deductible donation to support this project today!
About the Winnipeg Free Press
The Winnipeg Free Press is an independent Canadian news organization with a long-standing commitment to in-depth, public-interest journalism serving Manitoba and beyond.
About Broadview
Broadview is an independent Canadian media organization, registered charity and North America’s oldest continuously published magazine. With a national readership, Broadview produces thoughtful, solutions-focused journalism on spirituality, justice and ethical living that fosters dialogue and understanding.
Media Contacts
Winnipeg Free Press
Paul Samyn, Editor
204-697-7234
Broadview
Jocelyn Bell, Editor/Publisher
416-960-8500 ext 222
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