Recent graduate Katie Scott is applying what she learned in the Broadcasting – Radio and Contemporary Media program at Durham College (DC) to her new career as a national online journalist covering entertainment and lifestyle stories at Globalnews.ca.

“My Durham College education prepared me for my current role at Global News by teaching me the skills I needed in order to land an internship and stand out from the crowd,” said the 2016 graduate. (The program was formerly Broadcasting for Contemporary Media.)

“My DC education taught me a lot about meeting deadlines in the broadcasting industry. I was also able to explore every aspect of broadcasting before deciding which part of the industry I wanted to work in,” she said.

“I love entertainment and I was very happy that a lot of my projects at DC encouraged me to report on my favourite celebrities. I also felt that having a radio show on Riot Radio, called Spill The Tea, was an amazing experience and allowed me to teach others about the entertainment industry while debating hip-hop topics with my two co-hosts,” she said.

Scott added that she loves the diversity of her work at Global News, where she did her field placement as part of the college’s program. “In my work, an average week consists of pitching and writing stories about anything that is happening in the entertainment industry or viral videos. I come into work every morning and I discuss the trending stories for the day with my editor and we discuss what topics are worth covering. We also work with the online video team to create video content for the stories we publish, sometimes doing voice-overs.”

As a part of Corus Entertainment, her stories are also available on SoCast radio outlet websites and Facebook pages, such as those belonging to Q107 and Fresh FM.

Scott says that she has already learned so much from her editors as she continues to hone her skills. But it was her start at DC that put her on a pathway to success in her new career. “I would love to come to speak to DC students about what I do. In fact, one of my teachers from the program, Anna Rodrigues, has asked me to come in and speak to interns getting ready for their field placements next semester.”

Phil Raby, professor and program co-ordinator of DC’s Broadcasting – Radio and Contemporary Media (BRCM), said, “Our BRCM is one of the few two-year diploma programs in Canada that teaches not only traditional radio and television production, but also a variety of content creation skills for new and emerging online media.” He added, “Passionate and driven students like Katie, who make the most of that training, wind up with a diverse set of skills and knowledge that make them very desirable prospects for a wide variety of forward-thinking employers like Corus Entertainment.”