Student publications and the hybrid model

The School of Journalism has announced which courses will be real-life zoom meetings- er, in-person next semester. As students prepare to come back to campus, many student-run publications are also working on their operating schedules for winter 2022— while still trying to manage a hybrid model. To see how they've been holding up, J-school newsletter staff spoke to several publications about how this semester is going. 

The School of Journalism spoke to Eyeopene Editor-In-Chief Tyler Griffin, about how the Eye is beginning in-person work.

"It's funny that we're having this conversation because we're actually in the middle of trying to figure out what our contingency plans are for next semester," says Griffin. "And anticipating a fully in-person semester announcement from the University, albeit they're really taking their time with it."

While the office is open, the number of people allowed in is limited.

"Yeah, unfortunately, it's only paid editors, just because we've tapped our office capacity at seven people per day. You know, just to try to minimize any risk," says Griffin. "Ultimately, our top priority is the health and safety of all of our employees."

Even though the capacity is small, it still feels better than being entirely online.

"I'd say the energy is a little bit better. Like even just people being able to come down to campus and get out of the house has been really good for them."

On top of returning to a normal newsroom, Griffin hopes for students to reconnect with the publication next semester.

"Any opportunity we can have to welcome in new people, we just really want to try to engage people as much as possible."

The Review

The Review tentatively began in-person classes this semester, but Professor Sonya Fatah says the course is 50/50.

"For the most part,  it's almost split down the middle. So it's taught simultaneously, which, which makes it both equitable on some level, but also difficult in the sense that there are different kinds of engagement."

While half the class is online, students are still choosing to keep their cameras off.

"One of the challenges online is that many students, based on their situations, may not be comfortable to put their video on," says Fatah. "And so it's hard to really gauge how people are responding when they're online."

While the team is working in a hybrid setting, Fatah is not worried about transitioning to an in-person semester.

"I think it will be a relatively easy transition since half our students are already in person. So, I'm not too concerned about the transition," says Fatah. "We did discuss it last week, and the students seem to be ready to meet in person."

As the school of journalism continues toward in-person classes, there is an understanding that not everything will be smooth sailing.

"I think everyone has to be a bit gentler on each other so that they don't feel they're not giving their all," says Fatah. “There are definitely social adjustments that have to be made to make the various shifts we're making to come back to some semblance of life."

CJRU

Elissa Matthews, CJRU’s station manager, says the station opened their studios to volunteers and staff on a limited basis in October. Safety measures have included only allowing one person in a studio at a time. Matthews hopes the in-person aspect should help the station to prepare for “a more robust opening in January.”

“For us, [the challenge] is just making sure we find ways to engage both students and community members in a safe way,” said Matthews. “So we’re just trying to find the best ways to do that and not put too much pressure on our volunteers and try to make it safe and comfortable and not too difficult for them to come back, while still following all the guidelines and ensuring that everyone is safe.”

There’s been a change in the structure of some of CJRU’s interviews during COVID as well and Matthews notes the publication has had success with lining up big interviews. 

“I’ve noticed that we’ve ended up with a lot more long-form interviews rather than maybe getting streeters or sound from events. For some of our music programmers who are interviewing musicians, there’s been an increase in availability for them to sometimes get some really big interviews that generally as a smaller publication we wouldn’t receive, but people have had time and they’re much more comfortable with giving you a few minutes on Zoom.”

Matthews says that CJRU will continue to allow for some virtual work for both staff and volunteers moving forward. 

“We’ve had volunteers in the past where it’s pretty difficult to get down to campus if you have any mobility issues and for some people it’s really beneficial to be able to work from home, so we want to continue to be able to offer that as an accommodation for folks for whatever reason. We invested in some equipment that we can lend out to our volunteers and we’ll continue to do that and support them in any way we can.”

On the Record

Jane Gerster is the instructor for On The Record (formerly The Ryersonian) and says there’s been a mix of in-person and online elements for the publication. While lessons and news meetings take place on Zoom, the video team has done on-campus interviews, andthe podcast team has worked mostly in-person as well. Reporters have also attended many of the home games for the Ryerson Rams. 

Gerster says On The Record has had less community-specific and event coverage during COVID. A challenge that some students are experiencing as well has been finding sources. 

“I think the biggest issue that they’ve had that was noticeable last year but is super-noticeable this semester is they’re struggling to get people to talk to them,” said Gerster. “So finding sources is the bigger issue because everyone is just tired and sort of at the end of their rope and doesn’t have a lot of spare time, so I’d say that’s been more of the issue.”

The plan is for On The Record to be back in-person next semester, contingent on guidelines from the University. Gerster explains that being back in-person could bring a change in team dynamic.

“It's very hard to build the camaraderie necessary to sustain good relationships through hard editing processes if you’re not actually in person. There’s the energy of in-person where you’re working together and it feels like you’re more of a team, whereas when you’re online, it feels very isolationist. So I’m hopeful we will see a return to boots on the ground, knocking on doors, picking up flyers, talking to people in the community reporting because I think that’s the opportunity. That’s really where students can shine and they haven’t been able to because we’ve been remote.”

Her Campus

Zainab Damji, the Editor-in-Chief of Her Campus and Christina Armanious, a senior editor at the publication, spoke with the School of Journalism on how Her Campus has operated online, versus in-person.

Her Campus plans to get back to in-person events in January, but have still managed to plan many events this semester, including events for breast cancer awareness month, as well as meditation, yoga and fall journaling nights. In terms of field work and event coverage, it’s typically up to the individual writers to cover events on their own terms. 

The publication had already hosted their meetings online before the pandemic, which allowed for an easier transition to virtual work. Damji says she feels as in-person elements return, people will play to their strengths. 

“If someone’s realized they really enjoy writing stories virtually from what they hear online, they’re going to keep doing that and if some folks are excited about the return back, they’re going to do that. Some folks might dabble between but I really think that it’s a mix and either way, I think our content is definitely going to improve.”

Armanious notes that she knows many of the publication’s writers are excited to get back to providing in-person coverage.

“I’m sure there are going to be many stories on what campus life is like. I know a lot of writers are really nervous about moving back out after a year and a half, so I do think it’s going to be a lot of going out and making up for all the things they missed out on. It seems like online has been a huge drumroll and then after the pandemic is the big reveal. They’re anticipating going back so much.”

“We’re definitely looking at engaging with the wider community at Ryerson, once we’re back in-person,” said Damji. “We’re really going to work to foster that community and build that safe space for all of us.”