Loyalist Journalism Students’ Work Recognized Through Nominations for Ontario Community Newspaper Association Annual Awards
The nominees for the Ontario Community Newspaper Association’s (OCNA) 2011 annual awards have been announced. Loyalist College is proud to be represented in all four categories of the college and university awards. Five Loyalist graduates have been nominated for work they completed while students at the College — Adam Gagnon and Bryanna Bradley in the Student Photography category, Melissa Tait in Student News Writing, and Meagan Leonard and Steve Pettibone in Student Feature Writing. QNET News, the College’s online news source, was nominated in the Best College/University Newspaper Website category. The winners will be announced at the 2011 OCNA Spring Convention which is being held May 13th and 14th in Niagara Falls.
“The photo that I have been nominated for is one of a mother grieving at a repatriation ceremony in Trenton,” said Adam Gagnon, a Photojournalism graduate. “Being nominated for an award is always a good feeling and I credit Loyalist with polishing my skills to this level. The industry has the highest regard for the program and the positive comments I hear on a regular basis make it clear that I chose the right place to study photojournalism.”
Meagan Leonard, a 2010 Print Journalism graduate, talked about the feature article for which she is being recognized. “My feature story dealt with the presence of gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender support groups on college and university campuses, and the struggles they encounter,” she explained. “At Loyalist we were taught that journalism is what keeps a community in conversation. If something I have written gets people talking, negatively or positively, then I’ve done my job.”
“It was not until I graduated and began working in the field that I realized the extent to which the OCNA is involved in the industry and the respect that journalists have for the organization,” said Melissa Tait, a 2010 Photojournalism graduate working at the Waterloo Region Record. “My final year at Loyalist was very intense because of the high profile stories we were covering in Belleville and our interaction with national media as a result of that. It means a lot to me to be honoured in this way.” Melissa has also been nominated for the Online Video Production award at the Ontario Newspaper Awards (ONA) to be held in Waterloo on April 30th.
Dean of Media Studies, Jane Harrison, congratulated the nominees and their faculty. “Loyalist has received six nominations in the four categories — more than any other college or university. This clearly indicates the quality of our journalism students’ work and reflects the excellence of our faculty,” she said. “Congratulations to the nominees — and best of luck at the awards ceremony in May.”
For information about Loyalist’s School of Media Studies programs call (613) 969-1913, ext. 2204 or The School of Media Studies.
Media Contact: Marilyn Warren, Communications, Loyalist College (613) 969-1913, ext. 2332, mwarren@loyalistc.on.ca or Jane Harrison, Dean of Media Studies (613) 969-1913, ext. 2437