When juggling countless variables and working to unforgiving deadlines are the hallmarks of your profession, there’s just no substitute for real-world experience, says Dr. Steve Lillebuen. Creating meaningful opportunities for his students earned the journalism professor one of MacEwan University’s first 2023 Early Career Teaching Excellence Awards.

You’re an experienced journalist and published author with over a decade of reporting and writing under your belt. Where does your passion for providing real-world learning experiences come from?  My PhD (on journalism ethics and identifying suspects in the media at Monash University in Australia) was very hands-on. I was out in the community interviewing a lot, and I saw how much better my research was when I had that face-to-face interaction. I developed this view that the more learning can be in-depth and hands-on, the richer the experience. 

So a case study just won’t cut it? In journalism studies, it's really hard to replicate the real world in the classroom because there are so many variables. It's a skill that just takes so much practice. Without real-world experiences, we can’t get to the level students need – to publish their work so people can read it.

Where can we see your students’ work? We partnered with the Calgary Journal and Mount Royal University on Alberta Votes 2023 to cover key ridings in the Spring 2023 provincial election. Students did data journalism, called candidates running for office, interviewed them and researched communities they didn’t know anything about. It was high-pressure and nerve-wracking but incredibly valuable. Another great experience was partnering with Maclean’s magazine on an obituary project during the pandemic. Students tracked down family members, interviewed them about their loved ones who died of COVID-19 and wrote tribute stories. 

That sounds intense. How did students respond? Having to contact and interview someone who's grieving can be terrifying for a lot of students. It was amazing to see the transformation from the fear they had at the start of that project to the confidence they had by the end when their pieces were published. 

It goes to show that taking a risk can pay off.  It's important for the community to see what students can actually achieve. Our students do great things – greater even than they and our partners might expect. Whenever students have had these opportunities, the partners we have worked with have been impressed with the results. 

Beyond bylines, what do you hope your students take from these experiences? I would love it if all of my students went into journalism, but you don’t need to want to become a journalist to get something out of my class. Being able to digest complicated information, write about it succinctly and to a deadline are skills that transfer into many different careers and give students a leg up. 

What does this award mean to you? It means a lot that nominations for this award come from students and faculty. I work hard to ensure students learn, are excited about the future of journalism and digital media, and have a worthwhile experience. Seeing that students feel strongly enough to take the time to support a nomination is a real honour and a signal that what we're doing here is resonating with them.