Media Worker Forum

11:00 – 11:30  Registration

Sign in and take a seat.

11:30 – 1:00  Panel Discussion: Creating Quality Internships in the Media

Join our discussion about what makes a good internship experience in the media; how employers, schools and unions can work together to create better opportunities for students; and what impact unpaid internships are having on the media sector. There will be plenty of opportunity for comments and questions from the audience!

Moderator: H. G. WATSON – A journalist based in Toronto. She is currently the associate editor of J-Source, the Canadian journalism project. She has also worked for Daily Xtra, rabble, The Cord Community Edition and the Lance, and freelanced for Motherboard, The Grid, Intern Magazine and more. She was almost a law school drop out but, somehow, managed to graduate, only to decide being a reporter was more fun. You can find her on Twitter at @HG_Watson.

Speakers:

MARTIN O’HANLON –  President of CWA Canada, the country’s only all-media union, representing 6,000 workers at companies such as the CBC, The Canadian Press, Ottawa Citizen and Montreal Gazette. Prior to being elected as head of the union in 2011, O’Hanlon was parliamentary editor for The Canadian Press in Ottawa for 11 years and a regular political commentator on CTV. O’Hanlon holds bachelor’s degrees in journalism and philosophy.

ANN RAUHALA –  Associate Professor of Journalism at Ryerson University.  In her 20 years in the news business, Ms Rauhala was Foreign Editor, a beat reporter and a columnist at the Globe and Mail newspaper and later, a television documentary maker at the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. Her research activities include a paper on how the school responded to technological change in journalism, an investigation of the attitudes and demographics of top news decision-makers in Canada and an  analysis of media coverage of public child care. While a reporter, she won the Robertine Berry Award from the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women. She has won a teaching award in the Faculty of Communication and Design. Her book The Lucky Ones, about adoption from China, was published in 2008. She teaches writing and editing courses, including Health and Science Journalism, Covering the City and Essential Editing, to graduate and undergraduate students.  She has been involved in supervising student internships on and off since 2001.

JOAN ANTONIO – Manager, Publishing Services. Joan has been with Rogers Media Publishing for over a decade and has worked in Consumer Production, Editorial Production, and Multiplatorm Operations across all brands. She helped launch the very first few issues of Sportsnet magazine with a brand new editorial team. In  2011, Joan won 1st Gold at the Media and Innovation Awards for best Magazine in collaboration with General Motors/M2 Universal & Maclean’s (ReThink The Future Issue). Now she is Manager of Publishing Services  as well as Program Manager for M-School.  The latter is quite a departure from her previous roles, but she’ll be the first to tell you that, thus far, it’s been very rewarding and she’s thoroughly enjoying the experience. This year Joan has been visiting and communicating with colleges and universities across Canada promoting M-School, as well as designed and developed the new official M-School website. She holds degrees from the IT program at George Brown College and the Graphic Communications Management program at Ryerson University, where she maintained a Canadian Printing Industries scholarship, and was awarded the Francesco Giorgio Memorial Award for Best Business Plan. Having started as a Rogers Publishing intern herself, Joan understands the difficulties and pressure of choosing and building a career. She’s thrilled to be a mentor to M-Schoolers as they shape their own futures.

1:00 – 3:00  Lunch + Speed Critiques/Mentorships

1) Eat some lunch.

2) Stop by a mentor station to chat with a professional in your field. Our mentors include: Pacinthe Mattar, a producer at CBC’s The Current; Susan Grimbly, former editor at The Globe and Mail and The Toronto Star; Danielle Webb, interactive news developer at The Globe and Mail; Ronna Syed a producer at CBC’s Fifth Estate; William Wolfe-Wylie, Interactive Web Developer at CBCNews.ca; Carlos Osorio, photojournalist at The Toronto Star; Connie Walker, reporter at CBC Television; Emily Mathieu, Investigative Reporter at The Toronto Star; Jessie Willms, Designer and Front-End Developer, The Toronto Star; Matt Frehner, Interactive News Team Editor, The Globe and Mail; Marlene Murphy, Senior Writer CBC TV News.

3) If you sign up on the registration form, meet with your per-assigned mentor to get feedback on your work.

3:00 – 4:00  Workshop: How to Build a Sustainable Media Career

This workshop will give you the information you need to get treated fairly as interns, freelancers and employees. We will answer questions such as “Is there a limit to the hours I can be asked to work?” “Should I be getting paid for this?” “Do interns have any rights in Ontario?” and “How do I negotiate a better freelance contract?”  

We will share tips and advice for navigating today’s media sector and creating sustainable, meaningful careers. Including: how to keep records; which contracts to take and which to walk away from; what are your rights as interns, freelancers and employees; how to negotiate for better pay; and how to work collectively to address problems at work.

Speakers: Denise O’Connell (journalist, writer and producer) and Buffy Childerhose (writer and director)

4:00 – 4:10  Break!

Time to visit the washroom, get some fresh air and stretch your limbs.

4:10 – 5:00 Presentation: Report back from Media Workers Unite Conference in Kentucky

A historic meeting of media workers is taking place this fall in Louisville, Kentucky. This meeting was called as workers at digital media organizations across the US (including Vice, Gawker, Salon.com, Al Jazeera and The Guardian US) voted to join unions this summer. Media workers will be getting together to determine what are the most important problems to tackle at digital media workplaces and to share ideas for campaigns and strategies to collectively address these problems. We’ll hear a report back from two Toronto-based digital media workers who attended the conference.

Speakers: Errol Salamon (PhD candidate in communication studies, McGill University) and Karen Wirsig (CMG organizer)

5:00 – 6:00 Social

Time for mingling with other media workers! Have some snacks and a drink on us as you share stories and get to know one another.