A few weeks back, a Sun Media columnist, Lorrie Goldstein, attacked the faculty at one of Canada’s leading journalism schools.

Specifically he wrote: “This is typical of Ryerson’s journalism program, and I don’t blame the students, but the faculty, which has a long, culturally inbred history of repeatedly dismissing or slagging Sun Media, a foolish disservice to their students.”

I thought this diatribe was a little harsh, so I reached out to the people who follow me on Twitter and scooped up a few responses to his assertions.  I emailed a set of questions to a freelance reporter who recently finished her Masters in Journalism, a journalism student at Ryerson, and a CanWest reporter who attended the school.

Here are their reactions to the Goldstein comments and my questions about bias in Canada’s journalism schools:

The Interviews

Shannon Proudfoot
CanWest News Service, Ryerson Graduate (2005)

Bio: I cover demographics and social trends as a national writer for Canwest News Service.
In terms of education:

• Honours BA in art history and criticism from UWO (2003).  Worked as a graphics editor, cartoonist, and writer at the The Gazette while I was there.
• Bachelor Journalism from Ryerson (2005).
• Did a do-it-yourself internship at the National Post while I was in j-school; two summer internships, followed by a year-long internship at the Ottawa Citizen before joining CNS in September 2006.  I have also written for the Star and a couple of newspapers in Ireland.  I think all that adds up to about five years in the biz.

Question: What did you think when you read Lorrie Goldstien’s comments about bias inside of journalism schools?

Answer: I was intrigued, but my experience was a little different.  I wrote for the Post in my first year of j-school and had really negative experiences with a Ryerson proffessor who seemed to strongly dislike the Post, and it crept into his interactions with me.  That said, another Ryerson proffessor helped a classmate and myself get our feet in the door at the Post, so the bias may have been confined to that one person.  I can’t say I ever noticed an anti-Sun mentality at Ryerson, but I may simply have missed it.

On Goldstein’s column specifically, I can see his point that Tilley is a leading expert on gaming who was left out of a purportedly comprehensive story on the topic (or rather, I’m taking Goldstein’s word for it, since I don’t follow that beat closely).  That said, it’s nearly impossible to include everyone who’s relevant to a topic in a single article, so it’s quite possible Tilley was left out because of space constrictions or because, as the Review faculty advisor said, the story was focused on a different angle.

Question: Does where you go to journalism school matter once you are finished with formal education?  Would a “culturally inbred history” of bias for or against certain media outlets by schools/professors lead to different kind of journalism?

Answer: In a business that’s pretty much defined by gathering a wide array of information, synthesizing it and making a fair judgment, it would be pretty sad if the cultural bias of where you go to j-school determined how you work and view your competitors later, so I hope not.  However, I think it’s possible there’s a relationship between the two that’s more organic and less suspect than that.  This industry is so small and intertwined, particularly in Canada, that the people you meet at j-school and the opportunities you find there could very well have later ripples in your career, in terms of one job leading to another, developing professional relationships, bouncing ideas around, etc.  I don’t think that’s the same thing as absorbing a mindless bias that one chain is better than another, though.

Laura Payton
Freelance Reporter

Bio: I’m an Ottawa freelance writer interested in politics, pop culture, and social media.

I started writing at the Fulcrum, my campus paper, when I was a student at University of Ottawa.  I also did a BA in Communication there.  After a couple of years working for a national engineering association, I went to Carleton to do my Master of Journalism.  Since then I’ve reported for the Ottawa Citizen and the Vancouver Province, and produced news at CTV’s Hill Bureau.

Question: What did you think when you read Lorrie Goldstien’s comments about bias inside of journalism schools?

Answer: First, I only spent two years in j-school, at one school.  So I can only talk about my own short experience there.  Disclaimer aside, I think there is a lot of bias in journalism schools.

I never heard anyone slag Sun Media.  It was more about ignoring it entirely; not just Sun Media.  Carleton proffessors often teach by having students analyze current stories; I don’t remember ever seeing a CTV News story or a Canwest story (the two companies I’ve worked for).  Part of this is due to the media the proffessors consume:  they read the Globe rather than the Post, and if they have worked in broadcast, it is invariably the CBC.  You can’t cover every news outlet, but a lot were overlooked.  There are good writers at Sun Media; good tv reporters at CTV (including many who were poached from the CBC).  While they teach a style of radio suited only to the CBC, anyone who goes on to work at the Canadian Press is going to need to know how to file a quick hit for private radio.  That’s a much different style from voicing a radio documentary.

The bias extends to where students want to work.  Proffessors will lament how the students only want internships at CBC in Toronto, the Star, and the Globe rather than looking at the Hamilton Spectator or CBC Sudbury.  But when nobody ever talks about the great journalism done outside those big outlets, why would students think to work at community or small-town media?  They teach you how to be a national journalist; no wonder you never think there’s anything else worth doing.

Question: Does where you go to journalism school matter once you are finished with formal education?  Would a “culturally inbred history” of bias for or against certain media outlets by schools/professors lead to different kind of journalism?

Answer: If you know what you’re doing it shouldn’t matter.  Learning a broadsheet style doesn’t mean you can’t write for a tabloid; it just means you’ll have to learn how to write that much cleaner and shorter.  You’re more likely to be shaped by where you work than by what you learned in a classroom or a lab.  Journalistic style varies more by person than it does between organizations anyway.

Matt Braga
Student at Ryerson Journalism School, writer at BlogTO

Bio: I’m currently a 19 year old student from the suburbs of Toronto, going into my second year at Ryerson’s School of Journalism this fall.  I’ve maintained my own blog, The Horrible Fanfare, since the beginning of 2008, and more recently, have been writing for both BlogTO and The Sining Lamb, an independent music site.  I am currently working on freelance assignments for technology website, Ars Technica, to be published during the summer months.

Question: What did you think when you read Lorrie Goldstien’s comments about bias inside your journalism school?

Answer: I’d tend to agree with Goldstien’s comments, but only to an extent.  Based on my experience within the program thus far, there seems to be some form of general disregard for the reporting found in The Sun.  I think one of the reasons why the Sun is so frequently dismissed by professors, TA’s, and students is that, at times, it seems to be the antithesis of what is being taught in the program.  From sensational headlines, to opinionated reporting, I’ve seen many a Sun article used as an example of what not to do in the world of Journalism.

That being said, I think it’s unfair to say that it is the only news outlet to be dismissed within the program.  I’ve seen more than my fair share of disregard for the likes of Rosie DiMano and Christie Blatchford, both of whom are not currently writing for the Sun.  The Toronto Star, meanwhile, seems to be the go-to example on how not to incorporate puns into your headlines.  The point here is that every publication is guilty of doing something wrong.  By comparing papers like The Sun to others across North America, and even the world, you can get a better idea of where the trends in journalism currently lie.  Therefore, I think it’s unfair to assume that finding the most fault with a paper like The Sun is an indication of bias, but, perhaps, an indication that something is simply wrong with the content within, especially when compared to other publications in its class.

Question: Do you think where you went journalism school will matter once you are finished with your formal education?  If the opinion makers at the Sun are right, and Ryerson has a “culturally inbred history” of bias for or against certain media outlets by schools/professors lead to different kind of journalism?  Would you work for the Sun?

Answer: If such a bias did exist within schools of journalism across the country, then I think you’d begin to see a very close-minded representation of what is considered “good” journalism.  The result would not be a widely diverse landscape of opinions and publications, much as we have today, but something far more limited.  Pointing out flaws or issues within a publication is not necessarily bad, but provides a point for improvement; it only serves to ensure that the next generation of journalists will, hopefully, not make the same sort of mistakes.

I can’t say for sure whether I would want to work at the Sun right now, nor can I say the same for any other publication.  What I do know is that whether you’re writing for The Sun or The Star, you don’t automatically lose the values that determine who you are as a journalist; what is said about the style or quality of a paper should not apply to every writer on staff.  Goldstien, after all, attempted to prove this very point with Steve Tilley in the J-Source article.  Despite what sort of reputation a given paper may have, as a Journalist, you should always have the opportunity to alter this perception, through quality writing and reporting.  When it comes to the Toronto Sun, this is no different.  The Sun has just as much the opportunity as anyone to become a reputable paper, but as of yet, I feel there hasn’t been that consistent show of work to prove me wrong.

Full disclosure: Laura Payton and I worked together at the Fulcrum, University of Ottawa’s English Language Newspaper during university.