In December 2014, CBC Vancouver put the word out - #CBCJrJSchool was coming. The premiere event for future journalists would be an experience like no other. Immediately, registrations started pouring in.
CBC Vancouver welcomed 350 students in grades 10, 11 and 12 to Studio 40 to the CBC Vancouver Broadcast Centre for Junior J-School on Saturday, January 10th, 2015.
In this inaugural one day workshop, students heard first-hand from veteran, award-winning CBC journalists on the changing world of journalism with an intimate look at how stories are reported.
The day was a resounding success according to both students and panellists. Demonstrating the power of social media, the twitter hashtag #CBCJrJSchool was trending across Canada for most of the day.
As Canada's national broadcaster, part of our mandate is to connect to our community. At CBC Vancouver, we believe it is our responsibility to foster leadership in youth and engage them in the world around them. Setting our objective to connect with the future of journalism, CBC Vancouver set out to connect the best and brightest future journalists with our award-winning journalists from tv, radio and the web.
What happened? We did something that has NEVER.BEEN.DONE.BEFORE.
We took 350 of the most eager high school students, and a selection of veteran, award-winning CBC journalists, and created the one-day inaugural CBC Junior J-School experience that inspired everyone who was part of it.
These CBC journalists connected with the students on an emotional level, creating a bond and relationship that goes beyond a story or a piece of tape. CBC veterans shared their love for journalism, the moments they cried, the moments they celebrated, and the moments they hunkered down and waited out the riot (seriously). From connecting with Ebola victims in Africa, to the horrific stories of abuse from Canada's residential schools, to entering the digital era using social media for weather reporting. Our 350 students were indeed engaged – listening intently, asking awesome questions and following each presentation with intense concentration and admiration, kind of like Kanye appreciating a Kanye song. The online voice of the students was large and proud, as #CBCJrJSchool took over a nation! Tweeting, snap-chatting, vine-ing, and Facebooking their day, the hashtag demonstrated what the future of journalism looks like (spoiler alert – it's social, it's digital, and it's awesome).
Following the event, students got straight to work, piecing together submitted their own version of a news story based on their experience. Students sent YouTube links, iPhone rants, thoughtful analysis pieces and stories which hit our hearts in the best possible way. Five students rose to the top and will be attending a "day-in-the-life" job shadow with their journalism heroes at CBC Vancouver.
