{"id":1929,"date":"2015-10-28T15:54:11","date_gmt":"2015-10-28T19:54:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=1929"},"modified":"2025-10-17T11:16:18","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T15:16:18","slug":"carleton-journalism-turns-70","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/carleton-journalism-turns-70\/","title":{"rendered":"Carleton Journalism Turns 70"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Carleton Journalism Turns 70\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

In October 1945, when a fledgling Carleton College launched Canada\u2019s first Bachelor of Journalism degree, the program focused on both the practical skills of the craft and a broad education in the social sciences, history and literature.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cEducation for journalism must provide general social intelligence, specific knowledge of social, fiscal, industrial and political problems, and comprehension of the responsibilities of the writer to society,\u201d the Ottawa Journal<\/i> noted in June 1945.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

A couple months later, the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix<\/i> reported that \u201cstaid seats of learning\u201d were finally paying attention to \u201cthe people who give the adult population of Canada its news and information,\u201d a profession previously \u201cjust beyond the pale of their recognition.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

[wide-image image=”1940″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Five aspiring reporters \u2014 three women and two men \u2014 attended the first full-fledged journalism class on Oct. 9, 1945 in the Masonic Temple on Ottawa\u2019s Metcalfe Street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A night school extension course had started the previous fall. But at the urging of the senior public servant in charge of educating Canada\u2019s veterans after the Second World War, Carleton\u2019s founding president Henry Marshall Tory pushed to create a degree program \u201cto provide opportunity and security to the young men and women who have set aside their peacetime pursuits in order to remove the threat to human liberty,\u201d according to the Vocational Guidance Journal<\/i>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although seven decades have passed, and what started as a college has long been a university, the program\u2019s founding principles remain at the core of a journalism education at Carleton. And they continue to serve students well, despite the rapid and revolutionary changes underway in Canada\u2019s media industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou need to have that broad understanding and knowledge to produce the kind of quality journalism that enriches our public conversation,\u201d says Susan Harada, associate director of Carleton\u2019s School of Journalism and Communication and head of the journalism program. \u201cYou can\u2019t do that if all you\u2019re learning at university are the tools of the trade.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s a noisy world,\u201d she continues, \u201cand we need journalists who can cut through the clutter to provide context and analysis. Students need to have core skills, such as storytelling, across media formats. That has never changed.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The journalism program has evolved, however, to reflect today\u2019s increasingly digital landscape. Technology upgrades, including new state-of-the-art TV and radio studios, were part of the 2012 move into the River Building. And courses on new media reporting and data journalism have been added in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But these are more than \u201ctools\u201d classes, says Harada. \u201cThere\u2019s always an underpinning of journalism.\u201d The data course, for example, helps students understand how to parse a spreadsheet and find the story hidden in all that information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Former student Inayat Singh landed a job as a data journalist at the Winnipeg Free Press<\/i>. Recent grad Arik Ligeti is a digital editor at the Globe and Mail<\/i>.<\/p>\n\n\n

[wide-image image=”1941″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students are still drawn to established media brands, says Assistant Prof. Randy Boswell, who teaches a fourth-year lecture course \u2014 Journalism Now and Next \u2014 that explores the multitude of economic, technological, political and ethical issues facing the profession. But they often end up with \u201cnew wave\u201d jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emma Loop, who graduated with a Master of Journalism in 2014, was on contract at the Ottawa Citizen<\/i> where she worked on the newspaper\u2019s mobile app before being hired in June as a political reporter at startup BuzzFeed Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy generation grew up with the Internet and social media,\u201d says the 25-year-old. \u201cWe get<\/i> how a lot of these technologies work. We don\u2019t really need anybody to teach us how to live Tweet an event, although pointers on doing this as a journalist help. But the basics of reporting are more important than ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBeing able to talk to people and find credible sources of information is paramount. Being able to tell stories with images \u2014 that\u2019s incredibly important. It\u2019s the foundation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Loop and many of her peers credit Carleton\u2019s journalism internships with helping them make connections in the profession. In the thick of covering the federal election campaign, she considers other aspects of her university experience \u2013 the rush of deadlines, managing multiple stories \u2014 great training as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe value of this degree is quite evident, and not only within journalism,\u201d says Harada. \u201cEmployers recognize skills such as knowing which questions to ask, an ability to write, to be articulate, to be able to quickly understand and put your finger on the heart of a story.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Journalism is different than many other undergraduate programs because classes tend to be small and students have a lot of direct interaction with professors, even in first year, says Boswell, who graduated from Carleton with a Bachelor of Journalism in 1989 and went on to write for the Ottawa Citizen<\/i> and Postmedia<\/i> before starting to teach full time in 2012. \u201cThat was a very valuable experience for me,\u201d he says. \u201cFor an undergraduate, it\u2019s exceptional.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Boswell was destined for a career in print, he took classes in television and radio reporting, and those lessons came in handy when he had to start doing video work. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t an alien concept,\u201d he says. \u201cI could recall and build on the training I received 20 years earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe skills required to be a journalist have changed and continue to change on the technological front, but the fundamental qualities of what makes a good journalist haven\u2019t changed. You still need to be able to figure out what\u2019s newsworthy, and you still need to be able to convey that story in a compelling way.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n

[wide-image image=”1942″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The media industry\u2019s overarching concerns \u2014 such as finding new revenue models for the news business \u2014 aren\u2019t a day-to-day issue for journalists. These concerns are part of a bigger set of changes sweeping many industries, says Boswell. Professors and students talk about these challenges, and journalism school administrators try to be responsive to trends in the industry, but they have made small adjustments to the program instead of a complete overhaul.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cWe want students to be aware of the forces shaping the industry,\u201d says Boswell, \u201cand to be nimble as they try to find a niche in this turbulent environment.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Robyn Bresnahan, the host of CBC Radio\u2019s morning show in Ottawa, graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism in 2001 and still thinks back to her journalism school experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The importance of not making factual errors and of following an ethical code has stayed with her. Encouragement from professors such as Mary McGuire, who helped Bresnahan sell a documentary about her roommate\u2019s terrible singing to a national CBC program, gave her the confidence to believe she had a place in this industry. And coming from a small town in Alberta, the broad education she got at Carleton opened the doors to a wider world.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cI recall thinking: I\u2019m at a university<\/i>!\u201d says Bresnahan, who worked at the BBC in London before moving back to Canada in 2011. \u201cThat\u2019s what I had been dreaming about.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

A reception was held in the River Building on Friday, Oct. 9 to mark the 70th<\/sup> anniversary of the first journalism class at Carleton. More commemorative events are planned for next year, including a celebration honouring the first graduating class.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In October 1945, when a fledgling Carleton College launched Canada\u2019s first Bachelor of Journalism degree, the program focused on both the practical skills of the craft and a broad education in the social sciences, history and literature. \u201cEducation for journalism must provide general social intelligence, specific knowledge of social, fiscal, industrial and political problems, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[28],"cu_story_tag":[1921],"class_list":["post-1929","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","hentry","cu_story_type-community-partnerships","cu_story_tag-faculty-of-public-and-global-affairs"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/1929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/1929\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98426,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/1929\/revisions\/98426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=1929"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=1929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}