Shop around for best journalism school

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The president and general manager of a private Winnipeg-based vocational school has a plan that may open up the door to success in the media world for many young Aboriginal people.

Or it may turn out to be a colossal waste of time and money - eleven months and $15,000 per student, to be exact.

#Robbie Robertson (not the well-known musician) operates Media Arts and Education, The Communications College. He's one of the driving forces behind INN - the Indigenous News Network. He admits, right now at the very beginning of his plan, that there are some bugs to be worked out, but he believes you have to start somewhere.

"This is a bullet version of a journalism course, yes," he said, during a promotional stop in Edmonton in early September. "There are better, longer-term courses out there. But the goal of any journalism course and the most important thing for any journalism student is to get published, to get on the air. We're aiming to establish an effective network across the country with 40 really good reporters and that's better than what's happening now."

If all goes according to plan, by Sept. 28, as many as 120 students will have arrived in Southport (one-half hour south of Winnipeg) to start a 12-week journalism course. At the end of those 12 weeks, the survivors will head out into the world to complete an additional 34-week field placement. Most will return to their home communities and file news reports to newly-licensed Winnipeg radio station CJAE, Arts and Education Radio on 92.9 FM. By placing these freshly-trained correspondents in as many First Nation communities as possible, Robertson hopes his network will grow to become the country's leading voice for grassroots First Nations radio news. Robertson wants to market daily Aboriginal news packages to radio stations across the country. For now, he'll start with reports on the lone Winnipeg station.

But, while the idea of finding a way to fast-track Aboriginal hopefuls into jobs in broadcast journalism might seem to be a great idea with exciting possibilities, there are those who say you'd better take a very close look at the course before signing up.

Shannon Avison, director of the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College's school of communications, which offers university-recognized journalism courses available in a two-year program, advises students to do a little comparison shopping when selecting a school.

"INN sounds too good to be true," Avison said. "I'm not trying to shoot it down. I hope it works. But it's a new program and it's coming out of the chute at 100 miles per hour."

The entrance requirements for INN are practically non-existent. A salesperson who answered the school's 800 phone line told a Windspeaker staff member who expressed interest in enrolling in the course that an aptitude test contained in the school's promotional package would only be used if there were too many applicants from a given community. It would then be used to decide which applicants would be chosen to represent that community. That salesperson also said that as of Sept. 18 (10 days prior to the first day of class) only 40 students were committed. He also provided the caller with a list of funding agencies to approach and said the school does not arrange funding.

Most educators say a 12-week course without any academic pre-requisites is not going to produce a graduate who is ready for the workplace.

"You need basic skills for post-secondary education," Avison said. "If you're not screening out those who don't have those basic skills, you'll end up pushing someone into a position where they're considered trained people but they're not ready to do the job. That can be very hard on the individual."

Another important aspect that those who are considering INN must be aware of, educators say, is portability. If you finish near the bottom of the INN class and don't get a full-time job with Robertson's network, you really have nothing to show for yur time at the school, because it isn't recognized by other schools or by the industry. At SIFC, for example, courses completed in the communications program are credits towards a degree. And employers have dealt with previous graduates of the school and have an idea what to expect when they see it listed on a resume.

Comparative cost should also be considered, Avison said. For $15,000 a student could pay for both years' tuition at an accredited college (averaging $3,500 per year) and have money left for housing, books and other living expenses.

Perhaps the most important consideration for the Aboriginal students who have been targeted as possible INN enrollees is the scarcity of post-secondary funding.

"There is a treaty right to education, but it's a very limited pie," Avison said. "Before you spend $15,000, look very carefully at what you're getting. If you're lucky enough to get a chunk of money, be very careful how you spend it because you're going to the very bottom of a long list. The second chunk doesn't come as fast as the first, even for people in graduate programs."

Students have to be careful because, with the cost of post-secondary funding, they may not get another chance, Avison said. A businessman with a new idea, like Robertson, doesn't have as much at stake, she believes.

"They take the risks, knowing full well what they are," she added. "But the students aren't always so discerning and post-secondary education is a major opportunity that they can't afford to risk."

Robertson acknowledged his idea is going to take time to perfect.

"Are any of these reasons for not going ahead?" he asked. "I believe the thing that pushes a good idea is the thing itself. We've got Tom Jackson as our spokesperson. We've got 37 billboards around Winnipeg introducing our new radio station which goes on the air Oct. 12. We're only going to recover our investment over the long term. Our goal is to establish a nation-wide network where Aboriginal peopl get the last word. That isn't happening now. It's an exciting time and we're going to do the best we possibly can to make it work."