Sometimes being in the right place at the right time can pay off in a big way. Just ask journalism student Elvis Anber.
With Rogers Television dropping its local daily newscast last month, the station began looking for five new shows to cover this time slot opening. Anber, who happened to be volunteering at the station at the time, saw an opportunity.
Journalism students Amanda Grant and Elvis Anber host the new weekly Rogers Television show London Under 30, which is produced by Western’s journalism students. The show airs Thursdays at 6 p.m.
He pitched an idea and before he knew it London Under 30, a 13-part half-hour series, was on the front burner.
“This has all happened in just over a month. It’s been incredible, the pace and speed,” says Anber, who submitted his proposal Oct. 4 and now, a little over a month later, the third episode airs tonight. “This is community television; it is what Rogers is all about. They are so open to that. If you want to do it you can do it, they give you that opportunity.”
Anber, who hosts the show with classmate Amanda Grant, says the show mainly focuses on the stories of young and dynamic Londoners and their contributions to art, business, sports, politics and more. The students have been able to get NHL Hall of Fame coach Scotty Bowman and Olympic gold medalist Sami Jo Small for their show.
“In terms of radio and print there has always been an outlet for our work, but there really wasn’t an ongoing place where we could submit our TV work. Everything was in class,” says Anber, a Montreal native. “So this was an opportunity not only to produce something for class, but to get it out there in the city through Rogers.”
Grant says there are 24 journalism students involved in the production of the show, with each trying their hand at a variety of jobs – from reporter to camera operator to editing.
“We want to get the experience and this is just a natural opportunity for us to test our technical skills, and our ability to tell a story visually,” she says. “Everyone’s trying to do a little bit of everything. Because we are all passionate about journalism, even when we come head-to-head with a deadline, we’re still excited and engaged with the material. We’re having a good time. We’re working with each other.
“There are tons of stories that affect young people in London and we’re the vehicle to promote that. Everyone is so excited and engaged with it, so it’s really easy to be willing to provide all this time and energy to something because it’s really giving back to you, too.”
Anber finds the students are working on the show pretty much on a daily basis. With the master’s program just one year, you want to use this time to get as much experience as you can, he says.
“I want to exhaust myself here. When April comes I want to sleep for a month because I need it,” he says. “We’re all here in this program because we enjoy journalism. This is what we want to do and I think the work you do outside the program is what you’re going to be recognized for. So it’s easy to motivate people. If there’s an outlet, outside school, to get your material out there, we’re going to jump on it.”
Grant adds the students have received nothing but encouragement from faculty, which is a huge motivator.
“We want to excel and we’re lucky to be enrolled in a program that pushes us to find that good story and follow that lead,” she says. “Our commitment to this program fuels our commitment to Rogers. We want to foster and maintain this relationship. It’s a wonderful experience to be working hand-in-hand with our peers and really producing something tangible.”
When Anber put forward this proposal, he hoped their success would be an outlet for future students in this program to produce and air their stories.
“Journalists have to be pretty versatile. It isn’t just you the reporter, you the cameraman, you the editor; you have to do everything and more,” he says. “This is another opportunity to exercise all of those skills. I’d like to look 10 years down the road and see this going on.”