Rae speaks to students about the Electro-Motive lockout.

Interim Liberal Leader Bob Rae spoke to first-year broadcast journalism students on Friday about a range of issues, from the recent Liberal party policy convention to the future of his leadership. Rae also participated in the day’s lesson, which focused on the work stoppage at the Electro-Motive plant in nearby London, Ont. Students were assigned to write an advancer about Saturday’s planned rally in London’s Victoria Park in support of locked-out workers; Rae provided his views on that labour situation. Following additional interviews with reporters with the Waterloo Region Record and 519onlinenews.com, Rae concluded his visit to the college and headed for the Electro-Motive picket line, where he planned to meet with the union’s bargaining team.

Liberal Leader Bob Rae

Federal interim Liberal Leader Bob Rae is scheduled to look in on Conestoga College’s Journalism Broadcast program today as part of a skills and trades tour that will take him across the country. Rae is scheduled to visit with college president John Tibbits before touring classrooms and facilities in the School of Media and Design, including the Broadcast Television, Videography, Broadcast Radio and Journalism Broadcast programs.

According to a party news release, Rae’s stop at Conestoga is part of a swing through post-secondary institutions that will continue through the end of January, with stops across the country, including New Brunswick, Quebec and British Columbia.

Michelle Shephard has covered terrorism and national security issues extensively for the Toronto Star.

Michelle Shephard, national security correspondent for the Toronto Star, Canada’s largest newspaper, is scheduled to be the guest speaker at Conestoga College’s annual journalism gala on March 22.

In addition to her award-winning coverage of terrorism and national security issues around the world, Shephard is the author of two books: Guantanamo’s Child: The Untold Story of Omar Khadr and Decade of Fear: Reporting from Terrorism’s Grey Zone.

Conestoga’s annual journalism gala honours the accomplishments of its students, bestowing more than 30 awards in different print, broadcast, new media and videography/documentary categories. Past speakers have included acclaimed freelance photographer Louie Palu (2011), Rogers multimedia executive John Hinnen (2010) and Globe and Mail columnist Margaret Wente (2009).

Tickets to the gala will be available in mid- February. A link to last year’s awards gala coverage is here.

Orientation for students in the two diploma programs is Monday, Aug. 29. Activities begin in the college’s Recreation Centre at 9 a.m., after which a program-specific orientation session will take place on the Doon campus in Room 2A621. Orientation for students in the postgraduate New Media program takes place Tuesday, Aug. 30, at 5 p.m. in the Doon campus’s Blue Room, to be followed by a program-specific session in Room 2E27.

Orientation sessions generally deal with the state of the journalism industry today, faculty introductions, some mixer exercises and a discussion concerning what additional equipment and resources, in addition to prescribed textbooks, students should expect to purchase during the school year.

Here’s a summary of the purchases that journalism students generally find useful and necessary:

• Textbooks are carefully chosen for their durability and usefulness. Faculty make every effort to keep book lists short — we don’t believe in asking students to buy books they won’t use or will use only occasionally. So if a textbook appears on a course list, students can count on the fact it’ll be put to good use. Among the essentials for any journalism student or professional working in Canada today in the Canadian Press Stylebook and its companion, the CP Caps and Spelling booklet. Both are staples on the desks of Canadian journalists across the country.

• An external hard drive with storage capacity of at least 100 GB (low-end external hard drives these days typically start with storage capacities of around 320 MB, so even these economical models will be sufficient). As a multimedia journalist-in-training, you’ll be shooting video and recording audio; these drives give you a portable place to store your raw files for editing and your finished files for submission to your instructors. One caution here: Look for a drive that is USB-powered, rather than one that requires you to plug it into a separate outlet. It’s not pretty when 35 students are all looking for power outlets at the same time.

• A USB flash drive (also called a jump drive or thumb drive) will allow you to easily transfer and store smaller files, such as class notes, from classroom desktop computers to your personal devices. Every classroom to which you’ll be assigned has a complete set of PC or Mac desktop computers — bringing a laptop to college each day isn’t necessary, though some students prefer using their own equipment. Many students find it easier to take notes on school equipment during lectures and labs, then transfer files to a flash drive for easy storage.

• A digital audio recorder is a must-have piece of equipment for the Broadcast Technology course, as well as the Research and Interviewing course. The exact make and model aren’t that important — must be sure that you’re able to transfer your digital audio recordings to a computer, either via a cable or a memory card. Be sure your machine has both “line in” and “line out” jacks. Your Broadcast Technology professor, Tim Goebel, may have more precise instructions, so it might be wise to wait until after a discussion with him. The Zoom line of recorders, such as the Zoom H2 and Zoom H1 (pictured) are durable professional-grade devices that produce broadcast-quality sound.

• A digital SLR camera (DSLR) will be a requirement in the winter semester for diploma students and is strongly encouraged for students in the postgraduate New Media program as well. The brand or model number isn’t important, but the camera must be a DSLR. It’s also important for students to have the camera’s instruction booklet or manual handy. Course instructors can’t familiarize themselves with every camera on the market, so be prepared to do some research and reading about the camera you want to use. If price isn’t a big consideration, choose a DSLR that also shoots video — your journalistic options, down the road, will be much greater.

Finally, students should be sure to get their college email accounts properly configured and to communicate with faculty using these accounts. Wireless Internet access is available across the Doon campus for personal devices such as smart phones and laptops.

A scene from a tableau of images in the lower atrium at Conestoga College, illustrated by James Bell and supervised by professor Tom Bishop

The program advisory committee (PAC) for Conestoga’s journalism programs met yesterday to consider changes to the curriculum and set the course for the year ahead. Its recommendations are reviewed by other college committees, up to and including the board of governors, before implementation.

In attendance for the PAC meeting were Chris Aagaard, deputy city editor at the Waterloo Record Record; Stacey McCarthy, account manager at MacMillan Marketing Group; Sheryl Plouffe, manager of news and information at The Weather Network and Martin Van Nierop, senior director, government relations and strategic initiatives at the University of Waterloo. Joining the meeting via teleconference were Terra Crowley, producer at CTV Southwestern Ontario; Kerry McKee, reporter at CBC Radio 1′s London bureau; and Marissa Nelson, managing editor at CBC.ca.

Second-year broadcast journalism student Patrick Finnigan and first-year print journalism student Lindsay Johnston joined the panel briefly to share their experiences with the programs.

School of Media and Design chair Mark Derro moderated the meeting; journalism coordinator Larry Cornies provided the bulk of the reporting on the programs to date. School of Media and Design administrative assistant Anne Fraser took minutes and made other arrangements.

Thanks to all for your valuable contributions.

This time, the focus is on candidates running in six ridings in the May 2 federal election campaign. Conestoga College’s School of Media and Design provides television cameras, switching equipment and expertise to live-stream the debates on the newspapers’ websites and simulcast them on college radio station 88.3 CJIQ-FM. Staff and journalists at the newspapers arrange for the venues, hosting, organization and moderation of the events.

The schedule for the debates, to which the public is invited, is as follows:

Wednesday, April 13, 7 p.m.: Kitchener-Conestoga debate at St. Agatha Community Centre
Thursday, April 14, 7 p.m.: Kitchener-Centre debate at the Communitech Hub in Kitchener
Monday, April 18, 7 p.m.: Wellington-Halton Hills debate at the Centre Wellington Community Sportsplex
Tuesday, April 19, 7 p.m.: Kitchener-Waterloo debate at RIM Park, Waterloo
Wednesday, April 20, 7 p.m.: Guelph debate at the Guelph Banquet Hall
Thursday, April 21, 7 p.m.: Cambridge debate at the Holiday Inn, Cambridge

The partnership also provides students in Conestoga’s print journalism, broadcast journalism, new media and videography programs with the opportunity to act as camera operators, interviewers on the media panel and moderators for audience questions from the floor.

Conestoga journalism student Ashley Idle, left, and Waterloo Region Record deputy city editor Christian Aagaard question candidates during the 2010 mayoral debates.

More than a dozen prospective students turned out for the annual Explore Conestoga open house on March 26, to check out the college’s Journalism Print and Journalism Broadcast programs. Following two scheduled morning presentations led by journalism coordinator Larry Cornies, student visitors and their parents got a chance to tour the school’s print and broadcast journalism labs and studios, as well as other parts of the college’s Doon campus.

Special thanks to the journalism students who volunteered their time on a busy Saturday to take part in question-and-answer sessions and lead tours: Amanda Baines (second-year print),  Michael Cottrill (first-year broadcast), Ashley Idle (second-year print), Paul Irvine (second-year print), Lindsay Johnston (first-year print), David Parbhakar (first-year broadcast) and Tiffany Wilson (first-year print).

Photographer Louie Palu's advice: Be creative and persistent. Photo by Dave Chidley.

In his address to Conestoga College journalism students at their annual gala last night, award-winning photographer Louie Palu said they must be inventive, creative and dogged in the pursuit of their chosen vocation — and never to accept “no” as an answer on stories they yearn to cover.

“This is the most exciting time ever to be a journalist,” Palu said, citing the endless possibilities emerging for creative and persistent storytellers. “There are no limits” to what can be done online, in print and in broadcasting, just as there are myriad possibilities in terms of the tools journalists can use to do their work.

Through his own still photos and video, Palu described his career path from a member of his high school’s camera club, through the mining industry of Northern Ontario, the battlefields of Afghanistan, the confines of Guantanamo Bay, the corridors of power at the White House, and other settings in which he’s gathered the images that have been seen around the world. Many of the most memorable, he said, required him to push beyond the initial “no” of editors, military officers, politicians and others who, at first, didn’t appreciate his storytelling objectives.

Though he was a staff photographer at the Globe and Mail for six years, Palu credited the CBC and the Toronto Star for helping him become a truly multimedia journalist. He is now equally at home with still photography, videography and writing as storytelling modes.

The student winners of last night’s awards, as judged by industry professionals in the Waterloo Region, were:

1. The Cambridge Times Award for Best News Photo: Amanda Baines (winner); Lisa Olsen (honourable mention)
2. The Cambridge Times Award for Best Feature Photo: Marcus Matthew
3. Guelph Mercury Award for Best News Story: Lisa Olsen
4. NOW Media Best Videography Award: Nathan Cox
5. Faculty Award for Best Writing by a Student in Year 1: Lindsay Johnston
6. Faculty Award for Most Promising Videographer: Dan Whyte
7. School of Media and Design Best Reporting Award: Alex Cooke
8. CJOY/Magic FM News Radio Announcing Award: Roslyn Wheaton
9. The News Photographers Association of Canada Best Sports Photo: Ashley Idle (winner); Thomas Parent (honourable mention)
10. Rogers Best Television Report Award: Nathan Cox
11. CTV Southwestern Ontario Digital Media Award: Peter Kovacs
12. Goderich Signal-Star Award for Best Opinion Writing: Marcus Matthew
13. 570 News Radio Reporting Award: Samantha Fitzsimmons
14. Faith FM Radio Feature or Documentary Award: Patrick Finnigan
15. Edward J. Hayes Award for Best Feature Story: Thomas Parent
16. Most Promising Newswriter, First Year Journalism Print: Elissa denHoed
17. Most Promising Newswriter, First Year Journalism Broadcast: Michael Cottrill
18. Most Promising New Media Journalist: Wei-Lon Lee
19. Best News Reporting, Videography: Leeanna McClean and Asia Skilandziunas
20. Waterloo Chronicle Best Arts/Entertainment Story Award: Ashley Idle (winner); Gerald Upton (honourable mention)
21. Ross Weichel Award for Best Editorial: Ashley Idle (winner); Robert Conte (honourable mention), Lisa Olsen (honourable mention)
22. Best Feature Story, Videography: Leeanna McClean
23. School of Media and Design Best Videography Award: Peter Kovacs
24. Carl Fletcher Award for Best Sports Reporter: Ryan Young
25. Ken MacKenzie Memorial Bursary: Craig Hennessey
26. Andy Dugan Memorial Award for Most Dedicated Student: Ashley Idle
27. Alumni Association Award of Excellence, Journalism Print: Marcus Matthew
28. Alumni Association Award of Excellence, Journalism Broadcast: Patrick Finnigan
29. Alumni Association Award of Excellence, Videography-Broadcast Journalism/Documentary: Peter Kovacs
30. CTV Southwestern Ontario Broadcast Journalist of the Year: Hilary Eastmure
31. Waterloo Region Record Award for Journalist of the Year: Amanda Baines
32. Rogers All-News Radio Stations Student Academic Grants: Maria Torriente, Brigitte Szucs
33. Rogers All-News Radio Station Student Scholarships: Hilary Eastmure, Patrick Finnigan, Nathan Cox

Students in the second-year broadcast journalism class. Photo by Dave Chidley.

Students in the second-year print journalism class. Photo by Dave Chidley.

Waterloo Region Record reporter Jeff Outhit, who teaches computer-assisted reporting in Conestoga’s New Media: Convergence program, was nominated for a prestigious National Newspaper Award this week. The nomination for an NNA comes weeks after Outhit was nominated twice for Ontario Newspaper Awards.

The NNA nomination was in the politics category; the ONA nominations came in the enterprise/investigative reporting and municipal affairs reporting categories.

In both cases, Outhit used research assembled with the help of students in Conestoga’s New Media program to provide the basis for his nominated stories.

This year's guest speaker: photographer Louie Palu

Palu’s news photographs have been published in numerous publications around the world, including The New Yorker, The New York Times, Time, Newsweek, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Forbes, The Toronto Star, The Walrus, Geist, National Post, The Economist, NPR, The Globe and Mail, Wall Street Journal and Sunday Times Magazine. He has covered the war in Afghanistan for five years and is known for his work on the detention centre at Guantanamo Bay. Palu’s work is part of a number of private and public collections, including The Library and Archives of Canada, Portland Art Museum, George Eastman House International Museum of Film and Photography, The Museum of Fine Arts Houston and the Portrait Gallery of Canada.

A record 190 tickets have been sold for the annual event, at which 33 awards will be presented to deserving first- and second-year students.