By Laura Ieraci, Canadian Catholic News
Catholics who ever tinkered with the idea of becoming a journalist or working in media need not tinker any longer.
Canadian Catholic News (CCN) is offering its 12-week online journalism course, “Telling Truth in Charity: Introduction to Catholic Journalism,” for the fifth time, starting March 2, 2026. Classes will be held weekly over Zoom on Mondays, from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. (Eastern Time), until May 18. Tuition is $275.
More than 65 people from across Canada, the United States and Central America have taken the course, and many have since begun or enhanced their work as freelance and staff journalists in Catholic media.
Tailored to the unique landscape of Catholic journalism, participants delve into Church teachings on social communications, theological reflections on journalism, ethics, and the distinctive qualities of a Catholic journalist.
The course covers journalism basics, such as how to conduct an interview, structure an article, write headlines, take news photos and pitch stories to editors. This year’s course will also include a session on how to start a podcast.
Canadian Catholic News was founded over 25 years ago as a news cooperative to facilitate content-sharing among Catholic newspapers in Canada. At its height, CCN had about 15 news media across Canada and a bureau on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
After a period of dormancy, The B.C. Catholic, The Catholic Register and the now-defunct St. Monica’s Institute in Toronto began efforts to reinvigorate CCN in 2023 as a vital news source. They were concerned about declining standards of journalism when it came to reporting on the Catholic Church.
The renewed CCN is aimed at providing news on the Catholic Church in Canada, issues of interest to the Catholic community, and a Catholic perspective on current events, in partnership with member publications.
The journalism course was designed in response to the need for writers for the relaunch of CCN as a public-facing news website. The first course ran for eight weeks from February to April 2023 with 12 students from across Canada and the U.S. The second course, in fall 2023, expanded to 12 weeks based on feedback from the initial cohort and had more than 20 students. Two more sessions were held in 2024, in the spring and the fall.
In early 2025, CCN offered a semester of more specialized courses in photography, editing and long-form journalism, as well as its first an intensive one-week seminar in Toronto in Aug. 10-16, called “God in the City.” Eight students from five countries across three continents went into the streets of Toronto to report on issues of concern to Catholics. Their work was published on CCN’s website, as well as in partner publications across Canada.
CCN will offer the in-person summer seminar in Toronto again this year, Aug. 9-15. Up to 15 participants will be workshopped and mentored by veteran journalists, editors and multimedia producers. It will be held at Serra House of the Archdiocese of Toronto, centrally located in the heart of downtown.
Applications for both the online and summer courses are now open:
Register for the online course here: canadiancatholicnews.ca/journalism
Register for the summer seminar here: canadiancatholicnews.ca/journalism/summerintensive
-30-
Canadian Catholic News (CCN) is a national news service, with members including Catholic newspapers, organizations, and individuals: CanadianCatholicNews.ca
Communications and Catholic Saskatoon News is supported by gifts to the Bishop’s Annual Appeal: dscf.ca/baa.