News Article

CNA produces award winning journalists


5/15/2008 8:55:53 AM


Ryan Crocker has won seven awards from the Manitoba Community Newspaper Association over the past two years. Crocker is a graduate of College of the North Atlantic’s journalism program.

Growing up in Marystown, Ryan Crocker had a passion for writing – passion he put to good use when it came time for college.

Now 26, Crocker has taken the basic principles he learned at College of the North Atlantic (CNA) and expanded on them to become a multi-award winning journalist. But he didn’t always know this was the path he’d follow.

“I knew it would probably be wise for me to pursue writing in some capacity as a career. I never really thought about being a journalist until my last year in high school,” he recalls.

“After high school, I spent two or three years working odd jobs in the Maritimes but finally realized I had to go back to school to build any sort of worthwhile life for myself. Writing has always been my passion and I’ve always been addicted to news, so journalism seemed a natural choice.”

He says the two year journalism program at CNA provided him with the basic tools he needed to be successful in the industry.

“I enjoyed my time at CNA tremendously. It was only a two-year program yet it still prepared me for my career exceptionally well. There’s only so much a journalist can learn about his or her career in school and since graduating I’ve realized that most of the learning happens on the job.

“There is nothing I have come across so far that hasn’t been at least vaguely familiar to me based on what I learned in school. Studying journalism at CNA has proven to be one of, if not the most important decision I’ve made in my life thus far. I would recommend CNA to anyone.”

It was his love of writing that led him to focus his career in print journalism rather than radio or television.

“It’s my writing that I want to share. I wouldn’t get the same satisfaction from speaking into a television camera or microphone.”

He has applied a dedicated work ethic to the three newspaper positions he has held since graduating in 2005.

“I worked as a summer student at the Georgian in Stephenville. I then applied online for a job at the Daily Miner and News in Kenora, Ontario, and landed it. I worked there for three months but, because of layoffs, I was forced to leave. The company decided to keep me and shuffled me to another newspaper in the chain, the Beausejour Review in Beausejour, Manitoba,” he says.

“At the Georgian I practiced everything I learned in school. It was like getting my sea legs. At the Daily Miner and News I learned what it’s like to work at a fast-paced, daily newspaper. It was also my first time having a specific beat, covering the municipal council. At the Beausejour Review, I’m the only employee as far as editorial content is concerned. I write all the stories, I take all the pictures, and I’m responsible for the layout and design of the paper. It’s a tremendous amount of work, but it’s also invaluable because I’m learning a great deal.”

In fact, Crocker has won multiple awards for his work.

“I’ve won awards not only for writing, but also for photography and layout and design, both of which were previously weaknesses.”

In 2007 Crocker took home accolades in five categories from the Manitoba Community Newspaper Association for best columnist, best layout and design, best front page, second place for best Christmas Edition and second place for best business feature.

This year he took home two additional awards – one for best columnist and second place for best feature photo.

He says it’s an amazing feeling to be recognized by your peers and sees himself remaining at the Beausejour Review for many years.

“I’m perfectly contented to stay at the Beausejour Review for years to come. There’s a joy I get from working for a small-town paper that doesn’t exist at larger papers. People are involved - I have a bulletin board filled with thank-you notes and people aren’t afraid to share their complaints about my work with me either. Being so close to Winnipeg is also nice. I get to live in a small town but then a city with more people than all of Newfoundland is just around the corner. It’s the perfect location.”

Brian Scott, 34, graduated from the journalism program in 2004. He is currently the associate editor of the Beacon in Gander after working in the information technology field.

“It was something I started thinking about as a career while I was in university. Sometime around 1994 I decided to do it when I received my BA, but then I took an information technology course instead. I worked as a web developer for a few years until I found myself out of work,” says Scott.

“When I found myself out of work and back in Canada – I had been working in the US – I decided I would finally go for a journalism diploma. I’m from Corner Brook so the college in Stephenville was a very convenient location for me.”

Scott completed the one-year post diploma program and says the instructors were very helpful inside the classroom and with pursuing outside opportunities.

He says he focused on print journalism because it’s an easier field to break into.

“That was the career option presented to me when I finished at CNA. Before I graduated I was leaning towards working in radio, but during a work term at a weekly paper in St. John’s the Northern Pen received my résumé. I interviewed for the job at the Pen and it was offered to me, so I gladly accepted the opportunity.”

Scott was working full-time before even finishing the post-diploma program at CNA.
“I took the post-diploma program which ends in June. I started at the Pen in May, so some of my final coursework included stories I had written at the Pen.”

He then moved on to work as the news editor with the Western Star for a year before filling his current position with the Beacon where he was recognized with a national award from the Canadian Community Newspaper Association for best news story.

"It feels great to be recognized by my peers. Like a lot of reporters, I’ve never judged the quality of my work by the number of awards I have won or have not won. But it’s nice to be recognized for a job well done.”

For more information about journalism’s two-year diploma or one year post-diploma program, log on to the CNA’s website at www.cna.nl.ca

VOCM reporter, CNA grad wins award

A graduate of the journalism program at the College of the North Atlantic has won an international broadcasting award.

Renell LeGrow of VOCM Radio in St. John's won an Edward R. Murrow Award in the spot news category for her coverage of a downtown fire last year.

The Edward R. Murrow Awards are presented annually by the Radio-Television News Directors Association in recognition of excellence in broadcast journalism.

Legrow was named a winner at the association's annual conference in Las Vegas on April 14.

"It feels incredible knowing that my work has stood up against some of the best in the world," says Legrow. "To have made it this far is an honour, and I look forward to future competitions."

The association presents awards to journalists in 13 American regions and one international one. Legrow's award was presented in the small market radio category of the international region.

Legrow will go up against the association's 13 American regional spot news winners in an overall competition. If she wins that competition, she will accept the award in New York in October.

This year, VOCM also captured Edward R. Murrow Awards for overall excellence and for best newscast.

This is the second year in a row that Legrow has won an award from the Radio-Television News Directors Association. Last April, she won an award in the breaking news category for her coverage of a fire that knocked out service to 100,000 Aliant telephone, cell phone and Internet customers.

Legrow, 22, graduated from the College of the North Atlantic's journalism program in 2005. She is the third graduate of the program to win a major award this year.

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For more information contact:

Glenda McCarthy
Public Relations Assistant
College of the North Atlantic
glenda.mccarthy@cna.nl.ca
(709) 643-6408