The Verse City Workshop: A Career in Journalism?
This summer, in partnership with the East Metro Youth Services, the Verse City Workshop at Ryerson University’s School of Journalism will present a five-day intensive multimedia journalism camp. The Verse City Journalism Project at Ryerson University is designed to encourage youth from Toronto’s priority neighbourhoods to consider a career in journalism.
Archive of June, 2009
Let’s get one thing straight, I’m not.
The Pride parade keeps everyone high in spirits as they celebrate the progression of the LGBT community.
Matthew Cox-Saunders
Summer in the City Student Reporter
Clothed in outfits of all the colors in the rainbow, thousands of participants walked along Church St. on Saturday in celebration and support of the LBGT community.
Marking the 29th anniversary of Toronto’s Pride parade, the day was full of spirit as people danced along the streets alongside men in drag and women dressed in brightly coloured skirts and dresses.
Pride week which gathers nearly a million people each year has made a name for Toronto, which accepts a diverse collection of faiths and backgrounds.
As more people feel comfortable to come out with their homosexuality, the attitudes of the public also begin to change along with it. However, it wasn’t always this way nearly 40 years ago.
“Things have changed dramatically,” said Dwayne Smith, 39. Smith used to struggle with coming out like many other people in the community.
“My whole family knows that I’m gay. It was difficult in the beginning, but my family, my mom, my sisters were very accepting. My dad was a different story, it took him a little time to actually deal with it, but he did and he’s very supportive,” said Smith.
It was not until after Smith became honest with himself that the stress built up over the years had finally been released. Smith says that negative views of the LGBT community have changed for the better over the years.
Before Dwayne came out, however, he was living two lives, struggling between the roles of living life as a straight man and being gay. He partially blames this on the stereotypes projected by his ethnicity. “We have this certain stereotype within our community that black men have to be macho; they have to wear certain clothes, talk a certain way, dress a certain way, walk a certain way.”
Before heading back to the parade, Smith says he hopes to see “everyone be able to get along and work with one another and stop this racial division we have in our community because the only thing we’re doing is hurting each other.”
“Things have changed dramatically…”
Parade participant
Dwayne Smith, 39
“It’s a get together, a barbeque, it’s fun, its summer!”
Huy Nguyen, a young student at Ryerson University joined the Parade march with his friends. Compared to many other participants in the march, nothing about Nguyen stood out except for his attitude, which screamed PARTY!
For Nguyen, gay pride week means “lots of fun with friends coming from Ottawa and Montreal.”
“It’s a get together, a barbeque, it’s fun, its summer!” He said.
Looking at Nguyen, one may believe it was his spirited attitude that helped him through his struggle to come out with his sexuality, however, he credits his friends for being there for him.
“I have supportive friends that help me to accept myself and I feel I’m not alone, I feel I’m part of something,” said Nguyen.
Nguyen said the most important thing is that he accepts himself. Along the way he said he has learned to accept other people, other cultures, as well as others in the gay community.
Nguyen feels times have changed. As the years go by people have become more accepting of homosexuality. As the LGBT community grows, it’s no longer uncommon to see gay couples or gay bars; it’s become everyday life.
Comments(2)
Category : Summer Camp, Uncategorized, Workshops
My name is Lakshine (pronounced Lack-sha-nee) Sathiyanathan and I am a second-year journalism student at Ryerson University.
I’ve spent the past two days with very keen, enthusiastic students from East Metro Youth Services. Their mere presence at our camp is just a small indication of their commitment to bringing change, especially in the mainstream media’s portrayal of Scarborough.
The Scarborough that has been sometimes portrayed in news media is not the Scarborough I live in. I have never seen this Scarborough, a product of media sensationalism. I have lived in Scarborough all my life – from Warden and Lawrence to Markham and Eglinton to Morningside and Lawrence. Each has its own story line, but one common theme – they have been lumped together as one crime-ridden unit, Scarborough.
Undoubtedly, there is crime as is the case elsewhere. Such instances must be reported, for the safety of the community and its relevance. At times, it is easy to pinpoint the media as the sole culprit in perpetrating Scarborough stereotypes. However, by not challenging and protesting these stereotypes, we are complicit in their creation.
The concerns expressed at Saturday’s dinner with guest speaker Omar Sachedina were legitimate. And by expressing these grievances, change has been initiated. Change is a two-way street. We cannot expect change without vying for it. So, what can we do? Participating in the Verse City Project is the perfect start. What better way to influence the media, then to be the media. Changing the face of the newsroom to represent our city’s diversity brings diversity to the stories reported. That means new angles and fresh ideas. After all, who knows your story better than you? If you disagree with a newspaper article, write a letter to the editor or the writer. Be specific in what you did not like and why, make suggestions as to what can be done differently or suggest resources. Write to TV news outlets. It is easy to dismiss these seemingly futile actions as ineffective and a waste of time. But it is even easier to say what is wrong, without trying to make it right.
Scarborough is not violence, crime, and poverty. Scarborough is diverse, vibrant and booming with possibilities. This is the Scarborough I see. Let’s make others see it too.
Comments(4)
Category : Uncategorized
Written by: Ranj from Verse City project
Man, it was just yesterday when I was reading about “Michael Jackson and his many looks.” We couldn’t stop making fun of his pale skin and fucked up nose. People couldn’t stop talking about him being a child molestor and so on. He was a big fat NEGATIVE. And Now surreal as it sounds he is no longer with us. Let’s not focus on why or how he is gone, more so on how we did not fully take the time to appreciate him till he was actually gone. Radio stations were playing that MJ like crazy and CNN had the MJ going on all day and it’s still the topic of topics and will be for a while now. You know how they usually say “laugh now, cry later.” Indeed that’s what you did.
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Jamion: Kiah how was your experience today so far?
Kiah: Today started off groggy until…we arrived at Ryerson University that’s where all the fun began.
Kiah: Jamion how was you experience?
Jamion: Today was bad until I got to east metro because I thought I wouldn’t make in time to get to the camp.
Kiah: I think the real fun started when we did our first workshop, working with drums and other instruments learning to really listen and communicate with one another.
Jamion: I think so too.
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The Summer in the City multimedia camp has finally begun! As a student taking part in this program, I can say that I am so far impressed with what it has to offer. Hosted by the Ryerson School of Journalism, this 5 day summer camp will teach us the fundamentals of journalism such as, learning how to write a feature story, blogging (which I’m doing at the moment), reporting, interviewing and much more. Okay, so you may be thinking that it’s just another regular program like Verse City. However, not only will they be teaching us certain skills for this career, but we’ll be meeting with well known people in the journalism industry such as…well to be honest, I can’t remember their names at the moment, but they’re BIG! What? Still not enough for you?…alright…I didn’t want to have to pull this out but, we’re even staying on campus for those 5 days. Yes, I said it! But you didn’t hear it from me. So let me break this down:
THE WHOLE SUMMER IN THE CITY MULTIMEDIA CAMP PACKAGE!
1. Learn the secret in the art of journalism
2. Meet the masters in the art of journalism
3. Stay at the Dojo of journalism
As you can see my writing is pretty horrible at the moment, so hopefully this journalism camp will help me to enhance my writing skills and hopefully, you’ll be able to read my blogs without having the need to cringe at me grammatical errors! 
GO RYERSON!
- Matthew
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Category : Uncategorized
Hey gang, what do you think about the views shared by the many young people learning about media and journalism, here:
Groups of young people from around England worked with professionals to make 10 short clips about the 10 winners of the Edge [employers] Awards and 3 short documentaries.
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Category : Uncategorized
Tags: journalism, media, training, youth
The Ryerson School of Journalism hosted an amazing whirlwind of activity the last two nights as the Verse City student programming committee worked fast and furiously to get ready for the Summer in the City multimedia camp this weekend.
When I first started this project a few years ago, the volunteer turn out impressed me. Both students and faculty worked through Saturday workshops to donate their time and skills to teach reporting and to edit and produce stories. But organizing a five day camp requires a more sustained effort.
In fact, I’m pretty sure myself and the Verse City crew at Ryerson have been meeting every Wednesday evening for at least the last two months. At first I was leading the conversations, but by the time the third meeting rolled around, I was having trouble keeping up with my student volunteers! Their ambition, passion and fortitude wows me.
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Kevin Young stuffs a schedule, map and reporter tips in a campers Verse City package
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- Donations I did not even know we had requested arrived at my office at Ryerson this week — thanks to our marketing and sponsorship coordinator (and MJ student) — Michelle Owusu. Boxes of Walrus magazines, bags from CBC Radio and a host of other practical items to share with the campers sit on the floors and chairs of my office at the Ryerson School of Journalism where I teach multimedia journalism.
I feel that over the past few months a new movement took root at Ryerson: an active Verse City crew at the School of Journalism like the one that helped put together this Summer in the City multimedia camp will help take this project to another level.
Most excellent.
(Don’t know why - my pics from last night’s meeting are not showing up. Check them out here: the last two nights)
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As Arti frantically prepares for Verse City and contemplates the note on which it will end, I can’t help but wonder how it will begin.
I hope you all are as enthusiastic as we are. As eager as we are. As anxious as we are.
As a student it’s a little weird to think I’ll be mentoring other students. I mean, just a few years ago, I was in your place! But I think that’s what makes this experience so unique. Student journalists teaching students what it’s like, what it entails, how competitive the industry is and how much you have to accomplish to make it big.
And while it is a lot of hard work and dedication, it’s so, so much fun. It’s exhilarating. There are times that I can’t believe in just a few short years I’ll be getting salary for this work. Meeting interesting people and traversing the globe is usually a job perk, not an actual job.
I really, really can’t wait to meet you all. It’s going to be a lot of fun!
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Category : Uncategorized
Tags: journalism, ryerson, verse city
By Arti Patel.
Verse City will be ending.
Before it even started I am already thinking about when it ends and how it will end.
Will it end on big bang or will everyone be sad it’s over, or maybe a bit of both?
It’s two days before the start of Verse City 2009 and this week consists of all major planning sessions, gift-bag stuffing, volunteer informing, meeting creating and last minute purchases—what a rush.
Over the last week, I have been contacting all of our industry guests, confirming their attendance for both the Friday night mixer and Saturday night dinner.
Do we have a line-up for you!
Yesterday I got a phone call form our guest speaker on Saturday night’s event, Omar Sachedina.
I can tell you right now, Omar is also very excited about meeting everyone and he is ready to take on any questions we may have.
This is all I have for now; I should get back to work!
Bye!
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Category : Uncategorized
Tags: journalism, omar sachedina, ryerson, verse city
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