WINNER NAMED FOR TWENTY
EIGHTH
MARTIN WISE GOODMAN
CANADIAN
NIEMAN FELLOWSHIP
The trustees of the Martin Wise Goodman Trust announce that AMBER BRACKEN, Photojournalist, has been awarded the twenty- eighth Martin Wise Goodman Canadian Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University.
This fellowship is funded by a publicly subscribed permanent endowment in memory of Martin Wise Goodman, late President of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited.
Ms. Bracken will join the 89th class of Nieman Fellows at Harvard University. The fellowship carries a stipend for living expenses and payment of fees to Harvard University.
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| photo credit CJ Nwaribe |
"It’s an extraordinary honour to be selected, and I am in awe of this generous gift of mid-career reflection,” Ms. Bracken said after the Canadian Nieman Fellowship Selection committee awarded her the fellowship. “It is so rare for working journalists to have time to think, to learn, and to consider their work; it is almost beyond belief to have the opportunity to do so at one of the most incredible and storied academic institutions in the world. I am so grateful to the Goodman family, the Martin Wise Goodman Trust, and the Nieman Foundation for the chance to expand my understanding of the world and to build relationships within this incredible community of fellows. I could not be more excited to join my cohort at Harvard."
Amber Bracken's photographs and writing appear in many publications including National Geographic, The Narwhal, The New York Times, The Globe and Mail, and The Wall Street Journal. She reports broadly but often explores intersections of race, environment, culture and colonization. Amber is a double World Press winner—in 2017 and in 2022, when she won photo of the year. Other recognition includes the Canadian Association of Journalists' Charles Bury Award, for contributions to coverage of Indigenous stories, the ICP Infinity Award career recognition, and the Pen Canada Ken Filkow Prize for advancing freedom of expression.
The Nieman Fellowships were established for American journalists in 1938 in memory of Lucius W. Nieman, founder of the Milwaukee Journal. It provides for a year of study for working journalists in any department of Harvard University as well as a seminar program. Previous to the founding of the Martin Wise Goodman Canadian Nieman Fellowship in 1982, thirteen Canadian journalists had gone to Harvard on this program under other funding, including Martin Goodman (Nieman Fellow class of '62).
“Amber represents the best of journalism’s present and future in this country”, said Jonathan Goodman, Chair of the Canadian Nieman Fellowship. “Her journalistic craft, her experiences, and her courage make her the ideal Nieman Fellow; she is certain to contribute uniquely to, and benefit mightily from inclusion in, the 2026-2027 Nieman class.”
The Selection Committee that chose Amber consisted of Anne Marie Lipinski, Former Curator, The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University; Henry Chu, Interim Curator, the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University, Ed Greenspon, President and CEO, Public Policy Forum; Malcom Kirk, President of Canadian Press; Douglas Knight, Chair and CEO of the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards; Laura Lynch, Host of CBC’s What on Earth, Karyn Pugliese, Host/Producer at APTN News; David Skok, CEO & Editor-in-Chief at the Logic; Jonathan Goodman, Founding Principal of JWG Advisors, Inc. and Chair of the Canadian Nieman Fellowship; Lauren Goodman, Administrator of the Canadian Nieman Fellowship; and Janis Goodman, wife of the late Martin Goodman. Each of Laura Lynch, Karyn Pugliese and David Skok are former Martin Wise Goodman Canadian Nieman Fellows.
