Fanshawe students on the air with AM 980
Student and Corus partnership first of it's kind
Students from Fanshawe's radio and broadcast journalism programs are benefiting from a new partnership with Corus Radio London.
Corus, which has been financially involved with both programs through funding scholarships and awards for the broadcast students for a number of years, has taken it one step further in creating a unique partnership between the college and AM 980.
“AM 980 is giving those students an opportunity to perform at a level that is obviously a medium market,” said Robert Collins, professor and coordinator of Fanshawe's radio broadcasting and broadcast journalism programs. “There's no other college or university in the country that I know of that, as a student in the broadcast and radio journalism programs, where your work here is broadcast on a commercial radio station to this extent.
It just gives you that foot up in terms of employment and that's proven in the success rate of our graduates who have been able to go to small, medium and large markets across the country.”
Students in both broadcast programs, as well as the media, theory and production program which runs in collaboration with UWO, are gaining experience through newscasts and weekly shows coordinated from the Fanshawe campus. ‘In Your Backyard' and ‘30 Purple Minutes,' two half-hour current affairs shows that are broadcast by AM 980 every Sunday are prime examples of the experience the students are able to draw from.
“The stories our students broadcast on X-FM and CFRL, are available to the [AM 980] editors downtown in their studios,” explained Collins. “We started with that, and then we moved to our students doing newscasts on Saturday mornings, then the two half-hours shows being broadcast Sunday mornings. So pretty well all of the students in the second year of the program will have the opportunity to have their work broadcast on AM 980.”
“You don't know what you can handle because it demands so much,” said Natalie Lovie, a fourth year student in the media theory and production program who has been working part-time with AM 980 since mid-November 2007. “It's a really young newsroom, but it feels as though they've been doing this for so long, so you want to learn from them, you want to get that experience from them.”
This affiliation will not only expand the skills of Fanshawe students, but it will also give them the chance to learn from professionals who have been in the business for years.
“I've been listening and watching, seeing how they handle pressure, how they get stories, how they write,” continued Lovie. “It's one thing to be in an environment at school where you're learning from each other, but everyone's at their own level, and then coming into something where people are more experienced and hearing them on a regular, daily basis.”
Working with the pro's at AM 980 also allows for more detailed feedback for the students in terms of what they're doing right or wrong.
“Nathan Smith, AM 980's news director, as part of our understanding is giving them feedback,” said Collins. “We're sharing information so that the student not only benefits from what they get from the faculty and staff here, but now they're also benefiting from feedback from the pro's down there.”
“If AM 980 is like any other newsroom, which I'm guessing they are, I'm going to feel welcome there,” said Lovie. “I'll feel like this is something I want to do with the rest of my life, because when I am there that's what I feel, it feels right.
“It's been really tiring, but it's an awesome opportunity and something to be excited about.”
Students from Fanshawe's radio and broadcast journalism programs are benefiting from a new partnership with Corus Radio London.
Corus, which has been financially involved with both programs through funding scholarships and awards for the broadcast students for a number of years, has taken it one step further in creating a unique partnership between the college and AM 980.
“AM 980 is giving those students an opportunity to perform at a level that is obviously a medium market,” said Robert Collins, professor and coordinator of Fanshawe's radio broadcasting and broadcast journalism programs. “There's no other college or university in the country that I know of that, as a student in the broadcast and radio journalism programs, where your work here is broadcast on a commercial radio station to this extent.
It just gives you that foot up in terms of employment and that's proven in the success rate of our graduates who have been able to go to small, medium and large markets across the country.”
Students in both broadcast programs, as well as the media, theory and production program which runs in collaboration with UWO, are gaining experience through newscasts and weekly shows coordinated from the Fanshawe campus. ‘In Your Backyard' and ‘30 Purple Minutes,' two half-hour current affairs shows that are broadcast by AM 980 every Sunday are prime examples of the experience the students are able to draw from.
“The stories our students broadcast on X-FM and CFRL, are available to the [AM 980] editors downtown in their studios,” explained Collins. “We started with that, and then we moved to our students doing newscasts on Saturday mornings, then the two half-hours shows being broadcast Sunday mornings. So pretty well all of the students in the second year of the program will have the opportunity to have their work broadcast on AM 980.”
“You don't know what you can handle because it demands so much,” said Natalie Lovie, a fourth year student in the media theory and production program who has been working part-time with AM 980 since mid-November 2007. “It's a really young newsroom, but it feels as though they've been doing this for so long, so you want to learn from them, you want to get that experience from them.”
This affiliation will not only expand the skills of Fanshawe students, but it will also give them the chance to learn from professionals who have been in the business for years.
“I've been listening and watching, seeing how they handle pressure, how they get stories, how they write,” continued Lovie. “It's one thing to be in an environment at school where you're learning from each other, but everyone's at their own level, and then coming into something where people are more experienced and hearing them on a regular, daily basis.”
Working with the pro's at AM 980 also allows for more detailed feedback for the students in terms of what they're doing right or wrong.
“Nathan Smith, AM 980's news director, as part of our understanding is giving them feedback,” said Collins. “We're sharing information so that the student not only benefits from what they get from the faculty and staff here, but now they're also benefiting from feedback from the pro's down there.”
“If AM 980 is like any other newsroom, which I'm guessing they are, I'm going to feel welcome there,” said Lovie. “I'll feel like this is something I want to do with the rest of my life, because when I am there that's what I feel, it feels right.
“It's been really tiring, but it's an awesome opportunity and something to be excited about.”
