National icon to speak at Concordia
The most trusted Canadian is coming to Concordia.
Peter Mansbridge, the host and chief correspondent of CBC’s The National, recently topped Reader’s Digest magazine’s annual poll as the country’s most believable person.
Appropriately, Mansbridge will speak on May 31 at Concordia for the Reader’s Digest Lecture Series in Journalism. He will discuss what he’s learned during his quarter century as anchor of CBC’s flagship nightly news and current affairs program.
“I’ll tell some anecdotes about my career and what that says about our country,” Mansbridge says. “I look forward to meeting the journalists of tomorrow, and they can see one of those who’s been part of this field for a long time.”
The Reader’s Digest Lecture is the annual signature event of the university’s Department of Journalism. “We devote a lot of time and attention to securing a high profile speaker to the series,” says Linda Kay, an associate professor and chair of the department. “We take great pride that the lecture has attracted high-profile journalists, writers and politicians.”
The lecture series is sponsored by the Reader’s Digest Foundation of Canada and the Department of Journalism and is free of charge and open to the public. Previous guest speakers have included Michael Ignatieff, prior to his stint as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, New Yorker contributor Adam Gopnick and investigative journalist Stevie Cameron.
Mansbridge himself is not a product of a university journalism program. Back in 1968, he was invited on air after a Churchill, Man., CBC Radio manager heard the young Mansbridge’s rich voice making flight announcements.
He says his start in many ways tells the difference between the profession before the Watergate scandal in the early 1970s and after. “Before Watergate, there wasn’t much demand for journalists. After that, the demand became enormous.”
Journalists have continued to face new challenges since the advent of the internet and social media. The way news is delivered may have been dramatically altered, yet Mansbridge insists that the basic tools of being a good journalist remain the same. “It’s still about storytelling, being curious and challenging assumptions.”
Mansbridge will also be on hand for the Graduate Diploma in Journalism 25th anniversary reunion cocktail reception, which will be held immediately prior to the lecture. Coincidentally, this month Mansbridge celebrated 25 years at the helm of The National.
His former CBC colleague Peter Downie began teaching in Concordia’s Department of Journalism in 1999 and has been the diploma program’s director since 2005. Downie credits the program’s longevity and success to the wide scope of its offerings and to the vision of its founders, Lindsay Crysler and Enn Raudsepp, who’ll also be at the reunion.
“We teach students writing, interviewing, video and other fundamental skills. It’s all about communicating effectively,” Downie says. “We attract students from around the world and have grads all over the world, working for the BBC, CBS, in print and other media. We’re hoping many will make it back for the reunion.”
The Graduate Diploma in Journalism 25th anniversary reunion cocktail reception is free and open to all Concordia Department of Journalism graduates. It will be held Friday, May 31, from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., Room H-767, Henry F. Hall Building, 1455 De Maisonneuve Blvd. W.
The Reader’s Digest Lecture Series in Journalism featuring Peter Mansbridge is free and open to the public. It will be held Friday, May 31, 7 p.m., at the D.B. Clarke Theatre, Henry F. Hall Building, 1455 De Maisonneuve Blvd. W.
To register for these events, follow the links below.
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