Diversity in Journalism: the changing face of young journalists

Michael Keegan

Last weekend, Concordia’s Journalism Department welcomed young members of Montreal’s ethnic communities to the Diversity in Journalism seminar.

The event, held April 14 on the Loyola campus, was presented in conjunction with the Department of Canadian Heritage, Young People’s Press and the Center for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR). Its aim was to encourage young members of visible minorities and aboriginal communities to consider careers in journalism. The day was also designed to give prospective students a taste of what journalism school is all about, and to help them successfully apply to the department.

The event was open to all interested high school and CEGEP students. They were invited to register for a day-long series of activities that journalism students would find familiar. These included an actual press conference followed by a seminar about reporting on one, and a choice of workshops on everything from brainstorming feature articles to sports reporting. They also got to hear directly from current “J-school” students and working journalists from minority communities about their own experiences.

Ross Perigoe (Journalism) organized the event.

“We wanted to invite young journalists without distinctions,” said Perigoe. “At the same time, whenever we sent out printed material about the event, we sent copies to every ethnic radio station and newspaper in town. We went to Kahnawake and spent a half-hour discussing the event on K103 FM. We put up a poster in the Native Friendship Centre downtown. And, with the help of Concordia journalism students from visible minorities who volunteered on this project, we went on CH Television to promote the seminar in English, French, Mandarin and Cantonese.”

The result was better than Perigoe had hoped for. Forty-five high school and CEGEP students registered for the seminar; 27 self-identified as being from visible minorities, and 17 spoke languages other than English or French.

The seminar was preceded on the Friday evening by a speech by Professor John Miller of Ryerson University. Miller’s survey of Canadian newspapers in 2004 demonstrated that visible minorities and aboriginals are severely under-represented in newsrooms with respect to their share of the population. Miller was followed by Andrew Phillips, managing editor of The Gazette.

At the seminar the next day, Leo Gervais (Journalism) spent part of the morning with one group reviewing the finer points of press conference coverage, and in the afternoon gave a seminar on desktop publishing.

“I think it was a big success, I think anyone who was there would agree,” said Gervais of the entire event. “I hope they do it again.”
Ben Ngai (first year, Journalism) was born in Hong Kong and moved to Canada when he was seven. He has written for the student-run The Concordian and will be one of its news editors next year. He was one of those student volunteers who spoke to the hopefuls.

“Seeing them was like seeing myself just a year ago,” Ngai said. “I’m proud of being in the program. I’ve been through the grind, but I’ve come out of it pretty happy. I’m going to be a news editor next year. I feel good about myself, and proud to see where I’ve gotten to.”