Former Star publisher applauds Ryerson’s journalism school

School is the best in the country: Honderich

by George Kagame

John Honderich the former publisher of The Toronto Star has applauded Ryerson University’s School of Journalism for its good work in training young professionals that contribute to shaping the policies and personalities of the country.

Honderich was speaking on Wednesday March 4th at a fund raising ceremony for the Ryerson Review of Journalism bi-yearly students magazine at Pantages Hotel in down town Toronto. Honderich said Ryerson has the best journalism school in the country and students that graduate from the institution would not find it difficult to get employment even in hard economic times as it is today. He commended the dean of the school of journalism at Ryerson for starting a dialogue where students can exchanges ideas on the important issues in the country.

“I believe in magazine journalism and Ryerson gives you students the best start. The school has done a tremendous job by supporting this dialogue where young writers can talk about issues and people that shape policies in the country. It is also very important that the best journalism school in the country also organizes the discussion about the profession.”

He added that the media organization he works for-the Torstar group (which also publishes The Toronto Star) would regard graduates from Ryerson for employment when it has got opportunities because of the high standards of the school, “even in tough economic times as these, Ryerson is still the university of choice for Torstar Corporation when hiring, he said.

Honderich who has been a donor to the journalism school initiatives for a long while added that he would continue his assistance in the future, however, the total amount of funds raised at the function which was held in Martini Bar was not released immediately.

The editor of the magazine Canice Leung said production of this year’s spring edition was a challenging task but one her team was ready to succeed at: “we still need more funding to ensure a good quality product in the magazine. It is a challenging job and we need all the guidance and assistance.” She said the 2009 spring issue will be out soon.

The glossy magazine celebrated its 25th anniversary last year with its current edition covered; “25 years of watching the watch dogs” and it came out last year’s summer. The magazine is published by the Chair of Ryerson University’s School of Journalism Paul Knox and caters primarily for developing the writing and editing skills of journalism students at the university but also gives insights of or about established veteran journalists in Canadian and international media organization. The 25th anniversary gives analysis of intimidation at Pakistan papers.