Student Journalism – The Concordian

From Jan. 9 to Jan. 12, more than 100 students from across Canada – nine of which representing Concordia newspapers, The Link and The Concordian – flew in Vancouver to attend the 82nd edition of NASH.

NASH is a four-day conference held by the Canadian University Press (CUP), which offers various workshops and lectures to journalism students. Whether the subject was global reporting, Indigenous coverage, hate groups in Canada or the climate crisis, the idea behind the conference was to provide tools for students to report accurately on issues that affect their university communities, but also to make the most out of their own newspaper.

“I think the best part of this conference is getting your head filled with all these ideas – maybe it’s just a spark from what a speaker mentioned or a conversation with other journalists – and try to spread that back out into the student journalism landscape,” said Jacob Dubé, vice-president of CUP.

The old NASH tradition enforces the idea that journalism across universities should not be a competition – rather, a collaboration. Dubé mentioned there is something quite powerful about seeing a community of aspiring journalists together in the same room, helping one another.

Indeed, the theme of this year’s edition, hosted by The Ubyssey – the University of British Columbia’s independent student newspaper – was empower.

Keynote speakers included Garth Mullins, host and executive producer of the Crackdown Podcast, who opened the conference Thursday night with a talk on how to properly cover the drug and overdose crisis in Canada. The second guest speaker was Dr. Candis Callison, an Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia, who addressed the practices and role of reporting on the climate crisis. The final speaker was Anishinaabe comedian Ryan McMahon, who used the stage to confront the colonial narrative in the media and share his view on key qualities and skills future journalists should hold.

NASH is also an opportunity to host the John H. McDonald Awards for Excellence in Student Journalism during the last night of the conference. While The Concordian left without any awards, Ireland Compton, editor-in-chief at The Link, won best Indigenous reporting for her piece: Protest Denounces Federal Decision to Appeal Canadian Human Rights Tribunal.

“To be recognized for the work that I’ve been doing is a really great feeling,” said Compton. “I think that we all deal with imposter syndrome from time to time, I know I do, and an award like this is a reminder to myself that I’m on the right track.”

The Link also won the best cover/layout of the year for their gender and sexuality issue, published last March.

Photo by Alex Hutchins

Safety first? Our condom conundrum

Should student journalists be treated like any other professionals at a national conference?

Over the weekend, six delegates from The Concordian made their way to NASH: an annual conference for student journalists. Boasting speakers such as Peter Mansbridge, Lisa LaFlamme, Terry Milewski, Laurie Graham, Chris Jones and more, the conference—and subsequent JHM Awards—could be seen as a formal, professional event.

The black-tie formal wear of the gala would seem to say so, as would the long list of prestigious journalists. However, at its core, NASH is a conference for students: specifically, university students. With that in mind, can a “young professional” conference truly be professional at all?

The schedule included bar nights, and drinks were offered at all the meals and keynote addresses. The hashtag on Twitter (#nash77) seemed to hint more at tomfoolery than any kind of gravitas.

The deciding factor may have been hidden at the bottom of our welcome bags: two bright red, solitary condoms. These were also included in last year’s gift bags, paired with a few dental dams.

We readily admit that our masthead is divided. Was it appropriate to give condoms to university students at a “professional” conference?

On one hand, the conference was not intended for professionals; it was a student conference. And if you get a large gathering of university students together, at an event that has billed social events at bars, where everyone will be staying in one hotel, doesn’t it make sense to provide condoms? At best it’s a preventative measure, at worst, a tongue-in-cheek joke about the nature of college events.

At the same time, it could undermine the image of those who are attending the conference, and the conference itself. How can one expect the conference to be taken seriously if it includes sex items in loot-bags? Are these really young professionals ready to enter the workplace, or party-obsessed teenagers who still need a lesson on safe sex? Why would professional speakers come to a conference that is billed as the “hook-up” event of journalism—especially when organizers acknowledge that aspect so blatantly?

At what point are we students, doing what students naturally do, or young, professional journalists, deserving to be treated as such? There may not be a perfect middle ground; especially where sex is concerned.