Len Arminio: Professor, Journalism - Online, Print and BroadcastBy Len Arminio

The future of local news, especially TV news was the focus of discussion Saturday at the regional professional development conference of the Radio-Television News Directors Association in Toronto.

Rita Cugini, Ontario Region Commissioner of the CRTC told broadcast news leaders the commission will announce July 6th the start of hearings to bail out cash starved local TV stations. The hearings, to start in September, will discuss controversial options like requiring cable and satellite providers to pay local TV stations a fee to carry their signals.

The CRTC will also examIne expanding the Local Programming Improvement Fund...recommend by the Commons Heritage Committee...which could add millions to help struggling stations stay on the air.

Len Arminio: Professor, Journalism - Online, Print and BroadcastBy Len Arminio

The Radio-Television News Directors Association of Canada opened its 2009 regional professional development conference Friday with tributes to four broadcast and journalism professionals.

"He is a journalist's journalist". The words used to describe Henry Champ, the recipient of the RTNDA's President's Award.

Champ ended 48 years in the business this year after a career which took him to the war in Vietnam to investigative reporting for CTV' "W-Five" and as Washington correspondent for both NBC and CBC.

In his acceptance speech, Champ said Canadian journalists are recognized around the world for their professionalism.
Also honoured were recently retired CTV Toronto weatherman Dave Devall and City-TV's Peter Silverman, the combative consumer advocate.

Talking trends: Robert Washburn, professor of e-journalism, discusses trends in journalism with members of the Ontario Journalism Educator's Association on April 17.Integrating new technologies, the future of journalism education and standards/accreditation were topics discussed at this year's Ontario Journalism Educator's Association annual meeting on April 17.

Anna Rodrigues, from Durham College, talked about introducing new technologies, like Twitter and blogging, into courses.

Loyalist College Professor Robert Washburn talked about trends in journalism and how these will impact course curriculum.

Joe Callahan spoke about his initiative to create a College of Journalism to set standards and accreditation process for professional journalists. He received a $500 grant to carry out his study. He will be representing the OJEA at the Canadian Communication Association conference to further discuss the standards and accreditation initiative.

"Nine out of ten graduates from Loyalist College last year were working soon after finishing school.

The Ontario Colleges’ Key Performance Indicators show 90.8 per cent of Loyalist grads were in the workforce within half a year of completing their courses, compared to the provincial Community College mark of 88.9 per cent."

Winners: Carissa Cosgrove, Dean's Representative and graduating Print Journalism student at Loyalist College accepts the first place award for general excellence in the college and university class at the annual Ontario Community Newspapers' Association annual awards banquet.Loyalist College's campus/community newspaper, The Pioneer, won the general excellence award, along with a best photography award for one of its photojournalism students Friday night at the Ontario Community Newspaper Convention.

General Excellence Awards recognize overall achievement by circulation class in editorial, advertising and layout. Loyalist College placed first in its class. Algonquin College and Humber College were also nominated.

College & University Awards recognize the outstanding work of Journalism students in Photography, News Writing, and Feature Writing. Loyalist College photojournalism student Jessica Darmanin won for best photography.

Centennial College's Laura Stanley and Loyalist College students Blake MacEwan were the other nominees.

New students: Students, parents and faculty from the Journalism program's presentation at the Spring Open House gather behind Loyalist College.A lively group of potential students came out to the Spring Open House Saturday April 18 to find out about our program and Loyalist College.
Following a brief presentation by Professors Scott Whalen and Robert Washburn, a great question and answer period addressed many concerns and queries.
Thanks to Michael Wobschall, Kayla Bailey, Amy Clark, Laine Sedore, Shelly Fallis, Aaron Kuhn, Leah Vandenberg and Nicle Kleinsteuber.
Also, a big thanks to all the parents and partners of those students who trucked in from Kingston, Ridgeway, Odessa, Espanola, Lakefield, Cornwall, Chatham and Picton.
It was wonderful meeting them all. We look forward to seeing them this fall.

Joe and Robert are speaking as part of a panel to the Ontario Journalism Educator's Association as part of their annual meeting in Toronto this Friday.

The organization, consisting of faculty from college journalism program across Ontario, is meeting at the Marriott Hotel to review industry trends and discuss the demand on programs.

With all the turmoil within the news industry, there will be plenty to discuss.

Joe will be making a presentation on standards and accreditation, while Rob will be presenting on future trends in journalism.

You can follow the day's proceedings on Rob's Twitter page or on Facebook.

An update will be posted here, as well, after the meeting.

Karen Mitchell, the news director at CTV Winnipeg, provides a candid assessment of changes in journalism and the skills needed for today's job market. Karen graduated from the Loyalist College Broadcast Journalism program in 1990.

A special report for Quinte Chronicle by Craig Smith.