Joan Donaldson Scholarship equips students for future journalism careers
Ryerson RTA student Anna Ashitey received CBC’s Joan Donaldson Scholarship in 2021. (Photo courtesy of Anna Ashitey)
Congratulations to three Ryerson students who were recently selected to receive the prestigious Joan Donaldson Scholarship (external link) , giving them the opportunity to work in various CBC newsrooms over the course of a four-month summer internship program.
Anna Ashitey, Mariyam Khaja and Katie Swyers have been working for several CBC programs for the past nearly 16 weeks, honing their research and storytelling abilities with seasoned journalists and gaining skills that will help them in their future careers.
“The Donaldson Scholarship is highly sought after - students from all over Canada compete for a limited number of positions. So, it's a great accomplishment for three Ryerson students to have been chosen,” said professor Marion Coomey, who teaches in The Creative School’s RTA School of Media.
“It’s also the first time an RTA student has been selected along with two journalism students,” she added, noting that a scholarship that is also a paid summer job which includes valuable training and mentorship “is an amazing opportunity.”
“Many Donaldson recipients continue on with full time positions at the CBC,” she said.
Below, Ryerson Today caught up with Ashitey, Khaja and Swyers about their incredible experience.
Anna Ashitey
Program: Radio and Television Media Production
CBC placement: CBC News: Metro Morning, CBC Kids News, Investigative Unit
How have your studies at Ryerson prepared you for this scholarship?
The Ryerson RTA program is a blend of editorial work and theory, which was largely the workflow in the departments I worked with during my time at CBC News as a Donaldson Scholar. Whether I was writing radio scripts, producing audio pieces or attending shoots, I used the skills I gained from in-class experiences. Some of these courses include Introduction to News Studies, Radio Broadcast, Selected Topics in Media (now International Media Production) and Beyond the Radio Format. While learning online was a difficult transition, it was an advantageous to have online production skills which are now heavily reflected in CBC News work environments.
What aspects of this internship have you found most valuable or useful to your skill development/experience?
CBC News has many departments, it was great to gain an insight on the various skills that are required for news broadcast. Luckily, that's exactly what the RTA experience is! RTA is a mix of theoretical and hands-on experience which was largely the workflow for the departments I had the opportunity to work with. For example, while working with Kids News and the Investigative Unit there was a large amount of research. As a former undergrad research assistant with Professor Lori Beckstead, I had the opportunity to refine these skills in data collecting and gathering.
In addition, while working for Metro Morning I had many opportunities to go into the field to record streeters and edit tape on Pro Tools. I found the most useful skill I gained during my time as a Donaldson is listening! There are so many opportunities to learn new skills and absorb information from those I worked alongside, listening and being open to their direction helped me grow.
What has been the most rewarding aspect of this internship?
It feels very rewarding to have a hand in telling stories that are reflective and matter to diverse communities. I’ve learned from this experience that journalism is an act of service to the public built on trust, authenticity and integrity. It is truly rewarding to hear a radio piece you helped produce or see a project you worked on that reflects those fundamental values.
Talk about your future career goals and how Ryerson is helping you prepare.
While working with Ryerson’s 24-7 radio station SpiritLive as program director, I developed a strong passion for the radio/podcast format and I hope to continue my work in radio broadcast with CBC News Toronto. I try to keep in mind the advice received to try as many diverse opportunities as you can within your career.
One of the most amazing parts about my time with CBC News as a Donaldson was the opportunity to experience three incredible departments, Metro Morning, CBC Kids News and the Investigative Unit. Through chats with colleagues I came to realize that a lot of journalists within these departments had their start from many different places! All experience goes towards broadening your understanding as a journalist and it’s a journey that I am really excited to embark on.
Mariyam Khaja
Program: Bachelor of Journalism
CBC placement: Front burner, Marketplace, the Toronto newsroom
How have your studies at Ryerson prepared you for this scholarship?
As a student, I learned how to pitch and chase relevant story ideas, which has been a big help working in newsrooms. Being able to pitch a story and then file clean copy on deadline was a skill I learned early on in first year. Doing an internship in my final year also gave me the experience of working in a digital newsroom, which I think has helped throughout my time at the CBC.
What aspects of this internship have you found most valuable or useful to your skill development/experience?
Each placement I worked at required me to pitch researched story ideas and be able to follow through on the reporting of them. That was helpful in the sense that I learned what stories worked best for different programs, and how to chase and report on them.
What has been the most rewarding aspect of this internship?
Working with experienced editors and producers has been great for networking. Working for various programs has helped give me a clearer sense of what my journalistic strengths and weaknesses are.
Talk about your future career goals and how Ryerson is helping you prepare.
I’m hoping to eventually work for a digital publication or for a magazine, writing longer feature stories. As a student at Ryerson, I’ve been able to take different journalism courses that have helped me hone in on the skills that these roles require, such as the fourth year feature writing course or “story days” in first year when we had to turn a story around by end of day.
Katie Swyers
Program: Bachelor of Journalism
CBC placements: Toronto Enterprise Unit, Winnipeg, Canada Tonight on CBC News Network
How have your studies at Ryerson prepared you for this scholarship?
What benefited me at Ryerson was all the extracurricular activities that I was able to participate in. RSJ taught me all the foundational journalism skills, and then I was able to practise and refine them through school publications and outlets. I felt comfortable with audio production when I walked into the CBC because of the work that I had done with CJRU 1280 AM, the campus-community radio station. And when I was gathering news for online, radio and TV for the Toronto Enterprise Unit at CBC, I felt more comfortable because I had already done it while working for The Eyeopener and the Ryersonian.
What has been most challenging about this experience? How have you persevered?
Five weeks go by quickly when you are starting a new placement. Just as you begin to feel settled in your role and the work you are doing, you are doing something completely new again.
Working with so many experienced journalists has pushed me to work harder, but it can also be easy to feel like I am not improving fast enough. Talking to mentors when I feel stuck has been helpful. Some of the best advice I have gotten is to remember that everyone knows I am at CBC to learn, and both my successes and my missteps are helpful for my development as a journalist.
What has been the most rewarding aspect of this internship?
I have gotten to work on important stories, such as the Olympics, the wildfire evacuations in eastern Manitoba and the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. Getting to see an interview I had done on the National was a big highlight. The most rewarding thing has been pitching and producing stories that are important to me, and my community, like the first anniversary of the Hong Kong national security law. It was also rewarding when my reporting helped a Toronto family avoid eviction during the pandemic.
Talk about your future career goals and how Ryerson is helping prepare you.
I’m still figuring out what type of journalism I want to do long-term. Currently, I want to focus on learning as much as I can with every opportunity I receive. But I do know I want to work on digital explanatory videos -- like what Vox does. I would also be interested in returning to documentary work. Ryerson was where I realized how much I enjoy visual storytelling. Getting to produce the documentary Trafficked, with three other students, through a documentary course was a highlight of my journalism career and my time at Ryerson.
Ryerson also allowed me to travel to Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates to produce multimedia work; I am comfortable being pushed outside my comfort zone thanks to this program, which will serve me well in this industry.
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