Loyalist journalism grads take major awards

By Len Arminio

Big winner: TORONTO - Loyalist College Broadcast Journalism Graduate Bonnie Heslop is congratulated by her former Professor, Len Arminio following Bonnie's acceptance of the Radio-Television News Directors Association award for in-depth/investigating reporting. Bonnie is a 2001 graduate of Loyalist and the News Director of Newstalk 610- CKTB radio in Niagara Falls.Two graduates of Loyalist College have been recognized by the Radio-Television News Directors Association of Canada for excellence in reporting.

Bonnie Heslop, a 2001 graduate of the Broadcast Journalism Program and News Director of Newstalk 610 CKTB in Niagara Falls, accepted the 2008 Dan McArthur Central Canada Award for In-Depth/Investigative reporting for a series of stories on the cutbacks to the region's health care system. Bonnie said the award reflects the work done by nearly everyone at her station and exposed the consequences of cutting services such as emergency rooms, will have on the citizens of the Niagara Region.

Earlier this Spring, Brent Gilbert, a graduate of both the TV Program at Loyalist (1982) and the Broadcast Journalism Program (1984), won his third consecutive British Columbia Region RTNDA award for a TV feature last year on the relationship between former enemies. Brent, who works for CTV-British Columbia, did a story about a Second World War US B-17 bomber crew who was saved by the German fighter pilot who nearly shot them down in 1943. Decades after the war, Franz Stigler, who moved to Surrey, B.C., looked up his former American foe, bomber pilot Charles Brown. The two became close friends right up to Stigler's death at the age of 92 in March of 2008.

"As a teacher, it's very rewarding to see our former students succeed like this," said Professor of Broadcast Journalism, Len Arminio. "I know Bonnie and Brent are as proud of their accomplishments as we are of them, both as journalists and individuals," added Prof. Arminio.