Loyalist opens $1.9 million digital media centre

Loyalist College has opened its $1.9 million Digital Media Centre and launched the new Trent-Loyalist Journalism program.

The 10,000-square-foot newsroom includes video editing suites, a television studio, interview booths, audio production booths, and meeting rooms. The centre will be the home of various media programs, including the new Trent-Loyalist Journalism program.

“The media landscape is changing and our students are on the cutting edge of how the news is now gathered and distributed,” said Jane Harrison, Dean, School of Media, Arts and Design at Loyalist. “In our newsroom, students are respected like members of the working press, and their audiences are real. They’re producing high-quality news coverage for public consumption.”

Trent University participated in the opening ‘live’ from Peterborough, where the university hosted a similar event to unveil the Trent Bureau of QNet News, Loyalist’s award-winning student-produced community online news service. Together, Loyalist and Trent introduced a new version of QNetNews.ca, through which students write, report, share photographs, host programs and produce web, social media and video and audio content.

“So far it’s been a dream come true,” said second-year student Mark Hodgins. “Trent is a fantastic school; the campus is beautiful, the professors are exemplary and it’s  just the right size to make you really feel as though you’re a part of what goes on. The professors at Loyalist are all seasoned veterans in what we hope to one day do, and their passion for Journalism really helped to solidify my desire to be in the industry. The Newsroom is going to be great,” he added.

The new Trent-Loyalist Journalism program enables students to earn a joint-major Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science in Journalism and another discipline of their choice from Trent, as well as an Ontario College Advanced Diploma in Journalism – Online, Print and Broadcast, from Loyalist. Depending on the discipline, the combined program can be completed in four or five years of full-time study.

In addition to the Trent-Loyalist Journalism program, a variety of programs will use the Newsroom’s facilities:
Broadcast Engineering Technology Three-Year Ontario College Advanced Diploma
Journalism – Online, Print and Broadcast Three-Year Ontario College Advanced Diploma
Photojournalism Two-Year Ontario College Diploma
Sports Journalism One-Year Ontario College Post-Graduate Certificate
Television and New Media Production

“Our Journalism students create an impressive multiplatform portfolio and complete field placements at newsgathering organizations across Canada,” added Dean Harrison. “Our graduates find work as writers, reporters, photographers, editors, freelancers, web content providers, editorial assistants, videographers, program hosts and news anchors. The skills developed in this program can also lead to careers in public and media relations, and educational, training or industrial content production.”

Members of the College’s Journalism advisory committee include representatives from Shaw Media, Rogers Communications, Bell Media, CBC, CTV, Corus Entertainment, Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail and National Post, among others.