The University of Ottawa’s student newspaper, the Fulcrum, will host NASH, the Canadian University Press (CUP)’s annual journalism conference, in January 2015.
CUP is a national wire service owned and run by member student newspapers across the country.
The Gateway, the University of Alberta’s newspaper, in Edmonton, hosted this year’s conference. It was headlined by guest speakers including Sun News pundit Ezra Levant and Toronto Star reporter Robyn Doolittle.
The conference runs for five nights and brings together student journalists from across the country to socialize, attend guest speaker events, and partake in seminars and workshops.
“This year’s conference in Edmonton was really great,” Fulcrum editor-in-chief Adam Feibel said. “Once we got there I really enjoyed all the seminars and all the different things, from business to design.”
Jessie Willms, vice-president of The Fulcrum’s board of directors, said there is a sense of a competition to “out-conference” the previous host city.
“We want to add more workshops and panels, more things that are hands-on for journalists,” she said.
While the conference usually draws about 300 students, The Fulcrum is looking to bring in 400, or even more, according to Andrew Hawley, the newspaper’s general manager.
Hawley said he hopes the city’s location will draw more delegates.
“A national conference belongs in the nation’s capital,” he said. “With Parliament here there’s a vast network of papers both local and national with bureau chiefs stationed in Ottawa to cover Parliament.”
The hosts are planning a political focus for the conference.
The newspaper is looking to host politicians such as Liberal leader Justin Trudeau or NDP leader Thomas Mulcair as guest speakers, Hawley said. They are also looking to host CTV anchor and Fulcrum alumnus Lisa LaFlamme, and National Post columnist Andrew Coyne.
The Fulcrum last hosted NASH in 2008, but Hawley said the seven-year gap allows for a new generation of students the opportunity to visit the capital.
Next year will also be a special one for the paper, he said.
“It will coincide with a few milestones at The Fulcrum. First being that 2015 will mark 10 years that The Fulcrum has been autonomous from the student federation,” he said. The paper will also be publishing their 75th volume.
The newspaper will soon be creating an internal committee and hiring two conference managers. Once key plans are underway, CUP will be able to start helping to look for NASH sponsors, Willms said.
