Every year about this time, Western Producer editors interview members of the new crop of journalists coming through the University of Regina’s journalism school (forever christened J-school in the industry).
Next September, one of those young journalists will join us for a three month practicum.
These practicums are fantastic for on-the-ground, or in our case, in-the-field training. The J-students mostly come in with great skills, but we, I think, contribute to molding them into even better shape.
They learn something about the industry, a bit about writing better introductory paragraphs (or ledes), how to manage deadlines for print and online and how to function in a wild and crazy newsroom.
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And we, of course, love sharing our brilliance. At least, we like to believe we’re brilliant, or at minimum, experienced.
Our last two interns are amazing. Last year, we had Robin Booker: farmer, social worker, writer and good listener. We liked him so much we hired him.
(I feel like Victor Kiam, who liked the razor company so much, he bought it.)
This year, we have Kristen McEwen, who is learning the ropes at a pace that amazes this old brain. If you haven’t done so already, please take a look at her first video, of the church at Brock, Sask., that has been turned into a community cultural centre by the interesting Heather Speir. It’s great, and not just for an early effort. Interestingly, it was Booker who did the editing on that piece.
And, one day last week, we were delighted to host Marilee DeVries, a J-student from Ryerson University, who was preparing a piece on agricultural journalism for the Ryerson Review. Her questions were great, her demeanour excellent, and I think she has a great future. We enjoyed talking to her.
I have asked many of these young journalists what the heck they are doing in a field that many say is dying. None of them buy that. They see that journalists’ lives are changing, that we must do it all these days — not just print, or just broadcast, or just online, but everything. It’s tough.
But none of these new journalists are daunted. It’s full speed ahead, and it brightens the dark places of my sometimes-worried soul to know that the future of journalism is in good hands. Welcome, all of you.
