Kate Porter, a veteran Ottawa City Hall reporter for the CBC, is joining Carleton’s School of Journalism and Communication on a one-year appointment to teach courses on broadcast journalism, civic engagement and the future of journalism in the face of misinformation.
Porter has worked at the CBC for more than 20 years, “and during that time the magic of turning on the mic in a sound booth or stepping in front of video camera never got old,” she said. Porter got her start in the industry as a ‘cub reporter’ on CBC Ottawa’s local afternoon radio show while studying journalism at Carleton University followed by summer placements at the CBC station in her Northern Ontario hometown of Thunder Bay.
Porter has always been driven by a keen desire to figure things out, and she’s prepared a few thousand radio, television, and web stories to share those discoveries with the public.
For the past eight years, Porter has covered Ottawa City Hall. She covered the struggles of Ottawa’s new light rail system and the lengthy, illuminating public inquiry that followed. Her live analysis on election-night broadcasts has been rooted in her many years of watching policymaking and politics, and she cares deeply about keeping tabs on public institutions to make sure they’re working for residents of all backgrounds. Porter has also done deep dives on land development and urban planning, told effective data-driven stories, and produced multi-day audio documentaries.
Her reporting has been recognized with a number of awards for individual and team efforts, including for a data-driven series on the rise of acclaimed seats in Ontario municipal elections, and for a radio documentary about a teen athlete who suffered a concussion.
Prior to reporting from City Hall, Porter’s voice was heard regularly delivering radio newscasts and she also covered the arts beat.
“I’m excited to return to my alma mater to work with the next generation of journalists as they develop skills and enthusiasm of their own to seek out information and perspectives, and craft audio and video stories,” Porter said.
As an Instructor, Porter will teach audio and video journalism skills workshops for students in Carleton’s journalism program. She will also deliver a course on civic engagement in the Bachelor of Media Production and Design program, as well as an undergraduate course on how activists, imposters and innovators increasingly crowd in on journalism’s traditional role of delivering fair and reliable news.
“We’re thrilled to have someone of Kate’s calibre join us here at Carleton, to share her wealth of experience in broadcast journalism and also to guide students in engaging more with our civic institutions,’’ said Prof. Allan Thompson, the Journalism Program Head.
Porter takes up her duties on July 1, at the beginning of the new academic year.
Thursday, June 15, 2023 in Journalism News, News
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