Toronto Star investigative reporter Jayme Poisson has been named the winner of this year’s Greg Clark Award for early-career journalists. The judges selected Poisson based on her proposal to gain a better understanding of the access-to-information process. Poisson plans to learn how to communicate effectively with access-to-information officers when drafting and amending requests, how to make compelling arguments to release information that is in the public interest and how best to file appeals when that information is denied.
“Freedom of Information requests can be an exceptional tool for journalists to access the unvarnished, un-spun truth,” said Poisson. “The information we obtain through this process allows the public to scrutinize how government is performing and how policy decisions are really made.”
Presented by the Canadian Journalism Foundation, the Greg Clark Award offers working journalists a $5,000 stipend to spend a week gaining insight, gathering strategic information and meeting key decision-makers on a specific issue or beat.