Working on the Ryerson Review of Journalism was the defining moment of my journalism education. It was hard work and involved long hours, but having the chance to produce a real magazine that would be mailed to people who had paid for it, as well as being available on newsstands across the country, was the best possible learning experience. The fact that I got to be the editor of one of the mastheads, under the direction of the magazine’s founding publisher, Don Obe, made it even better.
So, when I got a message out of the blue earlier this fall, asking if I’d allow the feature story I wrote for the RRJ to be part of an e-book the current masthead students were publishing as a fundraiser, I didn’t hesitate.
That book–RRJ in Review: 30 Years of Watching the Watchdogs–was released earlier today. The first thing I did upon opening my copy was check out the table of contents to see who my anthology companions were. I was delighted, and humbled, to see the names of so many friends and former colleagues there, including Julie McCann, Beth Hitchcock, Alex Beckett, Jazz Miller and Meena Nallainathan, as well as a former student of mine, Barbara Jobber. It’s good company indeed.
I can’t wait to dig in to the book. If you’d like to support the RRJ, you can buy your copy for less than five bucks here.