Journalism prof and media personality Winston Sih creates critical news media resource
Alum Winston Sih, a professor at the School of Journalism and technology and travel multi-platform broadcast journalist, producer, and consultant who regularly contributes to outlets like Citytv’s Breakfast Television Toronto, CTV News, Yahoo!, and MoneySense, has produced a podcast about the uncertain future of Canadian news. Staying Alive: Preserving Canadian Local News (external link, opens in new window) explores the issues, opportunities and strategies for keeping newsrooms alive, diversifying voices and offering tips on how to bridge the gap to digital.
Journalism professor and host of Staying Alive, Winston Sih
What I was hoping to do was to get people thinking about these issues and engage in discussion about these problems by creating this resource and hoping that people start to synergize and to really brainstorm
It started when Sih was a Master of Media Production (MMP) graduate student in RTA Media last spring when he was tasked with a final semester professional project. As a broadcast journalist, Sih decided to tackle the issue of local news precarity in the Canadian journalism landscape.
“One of the things I was really hoping to do with my podcast was to attack the business sustainability of local news,” he said. “How do newsrooms stay alive? How do they thrive? How do they stay diverse in the work that they do? Those are the three topics that I attacked and the inspiration behind going after this project.”
Reimagining the future of local news
The five-episode podcast series produced by Sih sparks dialogue with guest speakers around issues such as local news business models, creating digital-only news publications, and integrating diversity into the news cycle. As a whole, the podcast seeks tangible solutions and strategies fit for today’s information economy and as we emerge from a global pandemic.
Staying Alive explores the issues, opportunities and strategies for keeping newsrooms alive
Sih believes that the future of local news is a big question mark. For him, the podcast is a jumping-off point for people to engage in dialogue, spearhead problem solving and offer ideas on preserving and supporting a brighter future for journalism.
“I knew that this project wasn't going to answer all the questions, I wasn't going to have all the solutions,” he said. “What I was hoping to do was to get people thinking about these issues and engage in discussion about these problems by creating this resource and hoping that people start to synergize and to really brainstorm.”
Turning the studio into a classroom
In addition to Staying Alive, Sih also recently joined the Journalism program at The Creative School as a professor, teaching a TV reporting workshop class to third-year journalism students. He has always been interested in giving back to the community, and when the opening came up this past summer, he saw it as an opportunity to amplify television news broadcasts by taking advantage of the power and reach of a variety of digital platforms.
Students working on a broadcast for their TV reporting class taught by Winston Sih
“The way that journalism students complete their stories from start to finish is really different now. They have to be a lot more multi-platform with how they produce the news, be it for radio, digital, TikTok, Instagram or TV,” he said. “I wanted to channel new ways to tell diverse stories and to offer people fresh and innovative ideas. That's what I've endeavored to do from day one.”
To keep up with his projects and to listen to the first season of Staying Alive: Preserving Canadian Local News, visit Sih’s website (external link, opens in new window) .
The Creative School at Ryerson University
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