Gene Allen

Professor Emeritus

DepartmentJournalism (Toronto Metropolitan University) - Faculty Emeritus

Areas of Expertisemedia history; the history of journalism; the evolution of news; news agencies; news and national identity; the popularization of history in film and television

Gene Allen had an extensive and varied career as a television news and documentary producer and as a newspaper editor and reporter before joining Ryerson’s Journalism faculty in 2001.

Recent Publications

Allen, G. (2018). Canada before Television: Radio, Taste, and the Struggle for Cultural Democracy by Len Kuffert (review). University of Toronto Quarterly, 87(3), 400–402.

Allen, G. (2013). Making national news: A history of Canadian Press. University of Toronto Press.

Sample of supervised ComCult projects:

2014 - Amanda Piche; Major Research Paper: An Early Canadian Homosexual Public?: How Jim Egan's Print-Based Activism Attempted to Cultivate

2014 - Jackie Young; Thesis: A Study of Print and Computer Based Reading to Measure and Compare Rates of Comprehension and Retention

2009 - Duncan Koerber; Dissertation: Communication as mobilization: The development of newspaper-based political parties in Upper Canada, 1820-1841

2009 - Ryan Parker; Major Research Paper: Journalistic Objectivity And The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

2007 - Brenda McDermott; Thesis: Screening the war: The exhibition and reception of newsreels and topical films in Toronto during the First World War

2004 - Rebecca Morier; Major Research Paper: Racism, The Press, And Canadian Society: Laying The Groundwork For Contemporary Study

2004 - Käthe Lemon; Thesis: Agent of social change: a history of Canadian University Press

2008 - James Cairns (co-supervised); Dissertation: From social celebration to politics as usual : newspaper coverage of the Legislative opening in Ontario, 1900-2007

ComCult Teaching Activities

CC 8863 Media History
CC 8979 Special Topics in Technology and Commun. - Understanding Journalism
CC 8984 A History of News