Life in the Broadcast and Online Journalism Program

Hi Guys,

I mentioned in my introduction post, that I’m currently in the Broadcast and Online Journalism Program at BCIT. I completed the first year in May and will be graduating this spring.

The first year was a lot to adjust to but the work we did was very practical. We were introduced to a variety of software programs for editing including Adobe Audition, Premiere Pro and Photoshop.

One of the biggest challenges students faced was trying to come up with ONS’s or original news stories . These are stories that have either never been done before, or an old story from a new angle.

We also learned about photography, did a lot video production, and made radio stories. These skills all carried over into the practicum we did at the end of first year and into the second year of the program.

The practicum in first year was composed of two rotations. One was working on BCIT Magazine, the news show and the second was working for the school radio station Evolution 107-9.

In my current semester we have those two rotations in addition to a third, which is an industry placement. I have completed the rotation for Evolution and am going into my final week of “Mag” which is short for BCIT Magazine. This coming week, I will be producing the show with one other student from the Journalism program and one from the TV program.

This year we have an advanced journalism class each Friday so our rotation runs Monday through Thursday. Each week we have a different schedule so it can be difficult to balance work and other obligations but it is still manageable. The key to this is to stay organized and on top of the work.

Overall, the work we do is hands-on and is the type of work we will be doing in the industry. We are able to get out there and get our feet wet along side other professional journalists covering the same things. It has been nice to know that the time we spend working hard will pay off.

Please feel free to ask questions about the program and I would be happy to answer!

-Alex

Instagram: @alexandra_fraser_

Snap: afraser00