Announcing the first Uncharted grant recipient: Emily McCarty
“I’m really excited about my future. I don’t think it’s bleak at all.”— Emily McCarty
On Tuesday night, the Uncharted Journalism Fund hosted members of Vancouver’s journalism community to announce the fund’s first grant recipient: Emily McCarty, a Master of Journalism Candidate at the University of British Columbia. More than 40 people braved the rainy weather to come together at the Tangent Cafe to to congratulate Emily, as well as to recognize many of the other innovative projects that applied.
Thank you to everyone who attended. Thank you to the Tangent Cafe and Dageraad Brewing. And thank you to Emily and the other applicants who applied and validated our belief that such an initiative could be a small part of a positive story about journalism’s future.
We invited Emily on stage for a quick interview about her project, which you can watch here:
We also asked Emily to share a snapshot describing the focus of her project, which we’ve included below. Asked why she would choose a career in journalism in these times, Emily responded “I’m really excited about my future. I don’t think it’s bleak at all.”
We selected Emily’s project because we believe that it brings a new perspective to a contemporary issue, and invites new voices into the story. It draws a connection between the north and the lower mainland, and evokes the shared experience of people needing to leave their home to find hope and expression elsewhere.
If you’d like updates on Emily’s project, or to be notified of the upcoming application window, subscribe to our mailing list for infrequent updates.
We wish Emily luck on the bold, uncharted journey ahead!
The Uncharted Journalism Fund: Chet Woodside, Phillip Smith, Alex Samur, Giselle Portenier, Erin Millar, John Gray, Geoff D’Auria, and David Beers as well as Stuart Sutton-Jones and Mary Lynn Young.
The stories and lives of Yukoners are often untold — and uncharted. The isolation of the land especially mirrors the isolation felt in the transgender and gender non-conforming communities living there.
It’s 2016, but “gender identity” isn’t covered under anti-discrimination policies in the Yukon Human Rights Act, so you can still get fired for being transgender. It’s 2016, but you can’t change your gender on your birth certificate unless you’ve had surgery. It’s 2016, but transgender people are streaming out of the Yukon to places like Vancouver for better lives.
This migratory pattern is common amongst transgender Yukoners. They leave their jobs, homes, friends, family, and security. They migrate from the wilderness of Whitehorse to the metropolis of Vancouver for many reasons. In places like Vancouver, there are exponentially more medical options, more educated healthcare staff, and most importantly, a larger transgender community to support them during an exciting, yet tumultuous, time in their lives.
Some leave and never return. Some leave to transition and move back when they are secure enough to return. And there are those who refuse to leave their community and take their chances with rocky employment, discriminatory policies, and a sparse transgender community. This video documentary will explore the lives of past, present, and future Yukoners. Whitehorse is blooming but very slowly — too slow for the gender non-conforming youth, too slow for those who want to be open at work, too slow for those in rural communities who have no one to reach out to.
— Emily McCarty
