The co-chairs of the Travers Fellowship Steering Committee, Carleton University's Susan Harada of the School of Journalism and Communication and Ben Travers, son of James Travers, announced that Emma Godmere, a journalist with CBC Radio's The House, has been awarded this year's $25,000 R. James Travers Foreign Corresponding Fellowship. The Fellowship is administered by Carleton and annually supports a significant foreign reporting project by Canadian journalists or journalism students.
Godmere's winning application pitched a series that will explore defence and security issues in three Arctic states - Finland, Sweden and Greenland. Underlying the examination of each distinct state is the call from political and defence leaders for Canada to strengthen its Arctic security and to do so now.
"This coverage will deliver Canadians an in-depth look at how our two newest NATO allies and next-closest Arctic neighbour are defending their sovereignty," Travers said. "Their actions include enhancing military capabilities, combatting online disinformation, shoring up society-wide preparedness, working with Indigenous communities, training residents in emergency response, and seeking new ways to strengthen ties with allies."
"While accessing government agencies and capturing the military angle are key pieces of this story, the civil society angle is just as important," Harada added. "That's why Emma Godmere will be speaking with residents in each of these places about how they perceive sovereignty and security in their daily lives."
Godmere plans to do her field work in late spring. As she notes, it's crucial to pursue this story now because of the shifting geopolitical landscape and questions around Russia's next steps, three years into its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. "Add to this a dramatically altered Canada-U.S. relationship, an exiting prime minister in a federal election year, and successors pitching military expansion in Canada's North," she said, "and you get an electorate that is quickly becoming more and more aware of Arctic security and sovereignty at this moment."
As Canadians hear about the urgency to strengthen Arctic security, this coverage will aim to arm listeners and readers with a better understanding of everything Arctic security involves from coast guard operations to cyber warfare and lay a foundation from which Canadians can grasp the contrasts with our Nordic neighbours. It will result in a series of immersive radio documentaries for CBC's flagship political affairs program, The House, along with feature online, video, and social media coverage.
The Fellowship was established in 2011 in honour of Jim Travers, a former editor, political columnist, and foreign correspondent who deeply believed in the value of international journalism. As the latest recipient of the award, Godmere said she is "incredibly honoured" to be selected for the Fellowship. She added she is drawn to remarks that Travers made back in 2003 about the importance of thoughtful discussions about public policy. "He pointed out that "how we think and talk about issues shapes more than what we decide, or how we act: it determines who we are.""
About Emma Godmere
Emma Godmere has produced award-winning radio and podcasts at CBC for more than a decade, spending the last five years focused on federal politics and public policy with the parliamentary bureau in Ottawa. For CBC's long-running flagship political affairs program The House, she has reported from across the country and produced in-depth coverage on critical minerals, climate policy, and the Canada-U.S. relationship. Her audio diary following a Ukrainian woman in Kyiv in the early days of the Russian invasion won a radio documentary Gracie Award in 2023.
About Jim Travers
Travers worked as the Southam News correspondent in Africa and the Middle East during the 1980s covering major stories - from apartheid in South Africa and the Ethiopian famine to the conflict in Lebanon and the Iran-Iraq war. Returning to Canada, he continued an influential career as general manager of Southam News, editor of the Ottawa Citizen, executive managing editor of the Toronto Star and finally as an award-winning national affairs columnist known for his compassion and playful wit.
He believed Canadians deserve first-hand, in-depth coverage of important stories outside our borders. He argued passionately that it is crucial for Canadian reporters to "bear witness" - because in our interconnected world, foreign news is local news
