CBC’s Adrian Harewood Joining Carleton to Help Shape Future of Journalism Education

Nearly three decades ago, Adrian Harewood became a journalist because he wanted to help open up spaces for a wider range of stories told from an array of perspectives. His commitment to that goal has never wavered.

Adrian Harewood

“Journalism is a unique and potent instrument that has the ability to enlighten, educate, edify and entertain,” says Harewood, anchor of CBC Ottawa’s supper-hour TV news and an adjunct professor at Carleton University who’ll become a full-time faculty member at the School of Journalism and Communication on July 1.

“It’s about struggle, power and the transformative possibilities of stories. It’s about truth-telling that affirms and exposes, deep listening and community solidarity, the audacity to ask the right questions, and the recognition of everybody’s inherent dignity.”

Harewood has a long connection to Carleton. His parents, Hyacinth and John, were both lecturers here. He attended day care and summer camps on campus and returned to produce and host shows at CKCU, Carleton’s community radio station, including an award-winning, 16-hour “take over” dedicated to Black communities and culture during Black History month in 1994.

“I went into journalism to be a positive force for change,” he says.In September 2020, Harewood began teaching a new graduate-level course that he developed — Journalism, Race and Diversity — as part of the transformation underway at the country’s oldest journalism school to reverse decades of systemic racism and take concrete steps to change Canada’s media industry.

“We’re at a critical media moment in Canada today and I think I can make a contribution. I can help teach the next generation of journalists and help shape the future of journalism education.”

Journalism Program Head Allan Thompson

“It’s a coup for us to land a journalist of Adrian’s calibre and experience precisely at the time when Carleton is trying to radically change the way we teach journalism,” says Prof. Allan Thompson, head of the journalism program.

“I have so much respect for everything that Adrian has done in his career, particularly the ways in which he has stuck his neck out to fight for greater representation in Canadian journalism.”

Read full story in the Carleton Newsroom…