On Air, Online, On Deadline
This is Humber Journalism
Welcome to Humber Journalism. For more than 40 years we've been training journalists from across the Greater Toronto Area, across Canada, and around the world. Our graduates work in every aspect of communication, from hard news journalism, to sports, entertainment, lifestyle and much more.
This is an exciting era of ongoing change in media. Traditional operations - TV, radio, newspapers and magazines -- are rapidly moving into the digital age. Media outlets everywhere are expanding what they do, offering an online component that can enhance most every story - with text, image, audio, video, graphics, user generated content and more. And, at every step of the way in every course we teach, Humber Journalism has been keeping up with the changes, getting you ready for employment with the professional skills you need to succeed.
Learning it all
Before they enter final year, participants focus on acquiring the general skills of journalism, including interviewing, conducting background research, reporting and gathering audio and visual materials for use online and in traditional television, radio, newspaper and magazine formats. From the start of the program, working individually and in group exercises, students produce assignments that reflect the working skills required by the profession.
In final year, students specialize in a pathway - print (newspaper/magazine) or broadcast (radio/television). Also in these final two semesters, students take part in valuable internships in the professional workplace and gain additional specialized skills to succeed in the online media environment.
Effective working relationships
Final-year students receive glowing reports from internship supervisors. The most common comment is, "Humber students don't have attitude." Industry partners say students come to their placements ready to work and participate in whatever way they can. Kevin Hann, the city editor of the Toronto Sun says his paper has enjoyed a long and prosperous working relationship with Humber Journalism.
"The Sun's internship program is widely regarded as one of the most grueling of its kind in Canada. Humber journalism students come to work placements with a high amount of hands-on, practical knowledge, tenacity and refined writing skills," Hann says.
"Student interns are thrown into the fire immediately; expected to work as peers alongside veteran reporters with minimal supervision. The top-notch teaching at Humber is clearly reflected in the successes of journalism students during their time at the Toronto Sun. Not surprisingly, many Humber interns have gone on to secure employment in the Sun Media chain"
Hann's sentiments are echoed by Anne Lavrih, the internship supervisor at one of Canada's busiest and best known radio newsrooms, 680News.
"Humber Journalism students, as always, are very well trained and need very little assistance from our audio and news line up editors which makes them so valuable to us!" she says.
Students ‘plugged in'
"Humber Journalism students are really "plugged in" to all aspects of the media (radio, web and TV). They have a solid understanding of what is required of them and the fact that they're trained on Burli [content management system], really makes our partnership even more unique. Guess that's why I hire so many of them!" Lavrih said. It is comments like these that explain why year after year, Humber Journalism has more internship opportunities than it does students to fill them all. Everyone wants a Humber grad.
The impact of Humber Journalism is growing as its alumni pool continues to grow. This extensive and dedicated grad pool turns to Humber when there's a need to hire new staff. The network created shows that Humber grads also like to work with other Humber grads, knowing they share philosophical and technical excellence.
At the same time, faculty continue to work in the industry segments they represent, some as part-time staff where they rub shoulders with former students on the job and some by judging industry competitions, speaking at conventions and corporate functions. This helps ensure our program remains both current and viable.
‘Proof the program works'
Each year, faculty convenes a panel of "recent grads" - students who graduated from the program the previous year - to speak to final year students. One recent panel came from all media - online (Yahoo!), magazine (Chatelaine), newspapers (Hamilton Spectator, Etobicoke Guardian) radio (FAN590) and TV News (CBC Newsworld). They described their jobs, explained how they got those jobs, and offered advice to the current graduating class.
"I was sitting here this time last year, exactly where you are now," said Carrie Trownson, a producer and reporter for Cogeco television in North Bay, Ontario.
"I'm proof that this program works. Humber prepared me for the job I'm doing, but more than that, my teachers prepared me for working relationships. They taught me to work with people. They instilled in me that working relationships are important. Everyone appreciates a positive attitude and strong work ethic, and that's what Humber Journalism helped me develop," she says.