Articles by author: Connor Wilkes

• Meet the New CPCF Ambassadors!

  Thursday, October 03, 2024 | By Connor Wilkes

  
  I’m Dharmi Dhiraj Gohil, a third-year Business Communications student minoring in Business Management. My pronouns are she/her. As a passionate digital media enthusiast, I’ve had the pleasure of exploring the ever-evolving world of content creation and social media. Being able to curate and share stories online has been an exciting journey for me, and I’m excited to bring that energy to my role as a CPCF Student Ambassador!

  What I love most about Brock’s CPCF department is its welcoming and vibrant community. It’s a place where creativity and critical thinking thrive, and I’ve always felt inspired by the courses and the people I’ve met here. From participating in campus events to working and helping students, I’ve been actively involved at Brock, and I’m excited to give back by helping new students feel at home in CPCF.

  As an ambassador, I am looking forward to organizing fun social gatherings, connecting with new students, and contributing to student outreach at events like the Ontario University Fair and Brock’s Open Houses. It’s a chance to share why CPCF is such an amazing department, and I can’t wait to help others experience it!

  
  Hi, I’m Charles one of the Student Ambassadors for CPCF this year. I am currently in my third year of Business Communications.

  I applied for this position because I wanted to get more involved within our department. I think that CPCF is a great place to be because all our students come from different backgrounds, but we share some common interests such as learning more about the media and culture.

  I am excited to be a CPCF Student Ambassador this year because I am very outgoing and am willing to get to know more people from our department and connect with you guys. What I hope to do after I graduate from CPCF is go to grad school for further studies or stepping into the field of education (I’m not sure yet).  Although, I feel like CPCF is the place to learn more about us and connect with others. That’s why we are all here right?

  Hope to meet you all soon!

• Brock experts find wine is central to Niagara’s identity

  Thursday, September 26, 2024 | By Connor Wilkes

  This story originally appeared in The Brock News
  by Amanda Bishop

  
  Brock Associate Professor Russell Johnston and Professor Michael Ripmeester made a corker of a discovery when conducting surveys on how locals identify Niagara.

  As St. Catharines gears up for the annual Grape and Wine Festival, two Brock researchers have uncorked findings on how important wine really is to Niagara residents.

  For almost two decades, Russell Johnston, Associate Professor in the Department of Communication, Popular Culture and Film, and Michael Ripmeester, Professor in the Department of Geography and Tourism Studies, have studied how local residents identify the Niagara region.

  In their recently published book, Meaningful Pasts: Historical Narratives, Commemorative Landscapes, and Everyday Lives, Niagara’s wine culture is one of two in-depth case studies.

  Their research, beginning in the early 2000s, originally sought to determine if and how people engage with monuments in Niagara. With the celebrations of the War of 1812 bicentennial still on the horizon at that time, Johnston and Ripmeester started surveying St. Catharines residents on the street about what sprang to mind when they thought of Niagara.

  “We both had an interest in understanding what monuments actually did, apart from what they were supposed to do, so we specifically did not use words like ‘past’ or ‘history’ when talking to Niagara residents,” says Ripmeester. “We were very much interested in whether or not people would go there — and they didn’t, at all.”

  The researchers were surprised to find that wine was identified strongly as part of the region’s fabric — sometimes, even more than the iconic waterfall at Niagara Falls.

  Johnston says that once wine was established as a key identifier, subsequent surveys dug into whether people believed there was any historical connection with wine. Results confirmed that wine was viewed “as part of Niagara’s agricultural heritage, and not just a contemporary industry.”

  “As it developed, the wine industry did a great job of inserting itself into heritage narratives so that people were able to see it as part of a longer-term agricultural trajectory of Niagara, from small towns and family farms to wine and wineries,” says Ripmeester. “So, for all kinds of reasons, the wine industry is speaking to the people of Niagara in the sense that it gives them a positive identifier.”

  The researchers say the bicentennial of the War of 1812, which fell in the midst of their research, provided an interesting counterpoint to their findings on wine. Commemoration projects and events ran from 2011 to 2014, so when Ripmeester and Johnston conducted another survey about Niagara identifiers in 2016, they expected to be able to observe the impact of this substantial investment and the extensive local media coverage surrounding it.

  Almost no one mentioned it.

  “Out of everyone we surveyed, one or two people mentioned the War of 1812,” says Johnston. “In 2016, we had the lowest number of respondents naming the War of 1812 out of all of our surveys dating back to the early 2000s.”

  Ripmeester says they were shocked by this result.

  “The federal government, the Department of National Defence, local dignitaries and historians thought it was important to give people a sound knowledge of the War of 1812 and spent tens of millions of dollars,” he says. “Yet it didn’t create a lasting impression on local people.”

  Instead, wine culture, tourism, heritage and industry continued to top the survey responses throughout the project. Researchers say this is because people name what’s personally meaningful — not necessarily what officials who work to steer public memory hope to highlight.

  “Narratives come in and out of relevance for people living in a particular community,” says Johnston. “People are often reaching for what’s right now.”

• CPCF Abroad

  Thursday, September 26, 2024 | By Connor Wilkes

  

  This summer, CPCF Professor Dr. Marian Bredin presented original research at international conferences in the Netherlands and New Zealand.

  At Erasmus University in Rotterdam, she presented the paper ‘Popular Indigenous Television and Narratives of Colonial Violence in Canada’ to the conference on Representation of Diversity in Mediated Popular Culture. This project analyzed two recent TV drama series — Bones of Crows (2023) and Little Bird (2023) — created by Indigenous directors, producers and actors to tell the stories of the residential schools and the Sixties Scoop.

  In Christchurch, Dr. Bredin presented the paper ‘Indigenizing Media Policy and Practice, Decolonizing Media Spaces’ to the 2024 meeting of the International Association for Media and Communication Research. This project focused on the political economy of Indigenous media and analyzed how Indigenous peoples’ interventions in Canadian media policy and production have fostered the decolonization of media spaces.

  Dr. Bredin is photographed here with CPCF colleague Derek Foster and CPCF graduate Sydney Forde who is currently completing her PhD at the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications, Pennsylvania State University.

• Brock expert studies public memory of Terry Fox via Instagram

  Thursday, September 26, 2024 | By Connor Wilkes

  This story originally appeared in The Brock News
  By Amanda Bishop

  
  Professor Foster presenting at the International Association for Media and Communication Research this summer.

  Forty-four years ago, Terry Fox captured the hearts of the nation by running across Canada on one leg to raise funds for cancer research. Although the beloved Canadian is no longer here to personally continue his Marathon of Hope, his legacy lives on through annual memorial runs and, according to Brock’s Derek Foster, through Instagram.

  Fox, who succumbed to his battle with cancer in 1981, is at the centre of Foster’s recent research involving public memory, social media and well-being.

  As part of his ongoing research into how the celebrated Canadian is remembered in popular culture, the Brock Associate Professor in the Department of Communication, Popular Culture and Film analyzed hundreds of Instagram posts created by people who visited Fox memorial sites.

  In the lead-up to this year’s Terry Fox Run, held annually in September, Foster says he wanted to see how user-generated content creates and shapes the public memory of Fox compared to the Terry Fox Foundation’s official messaging about runs and fundraising.

  “The public memory of Terry Fox is very much forward looking, in the sense that what he was pursuing in 1980 is still a collective endeavour for people motivated by finding a cure for cancer,” says Foster. “So, the memory isn’t just tied to the past through a lens of nostalgia, but rather, connected to our present and also a dream of a future.”

  Foster’s review showed about one third of his sample made clear references not only to emotional experiences, such as visitors being moved to tears, but also to what he calls “self-transcendent emotions” such as awe and gratitude.

  He also notes the posts don’t appear to be driven by a desire for engagement, as social media posts often are. In fact, only a small number of people liked or commented on the posts he reviewed. Foster says it’s significant that “the hashtag isn’t driving the discourse” because it shows a level of sincerity from the creators.

  “What we see is the vernacular memory — everyday people as they are deciding to create, produce and circulate these thoughts and experiences on their own, not organized in any way,” he says.

  Foster also says the way individuals are using social media to share their personal experiences with Fox memorials is an excellent case study on the legacies of public figures.

  “Most public memory involves looking back to build a sense of community or reinforce certain values that we can then use as we move forward,” says Foster. “That is far more explicit in the public memory around Terry Fox than other figures — the aim is not just to maintain him in memory but to continue to strive for the goal that he wasn’t able to reach.”

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• Brock’s 2024 Indigenous Leader finds magic in doing what’s difficult

  Friday, June 28, 2024 | By Connor Wilkes

   

  Jon Davey, Chief of Staff to the President and CEO of Scotiabank, is the honouree for Brock’s 2024 Indigenous Leaders Speaker Series.

  This article written by Sarah Ackles, it originally appeared in The Brock News

  There are seminal moments in life that determine the impact someone will have on the world.

  When proud Haudenosaunee man Jonathan (Jon) Davey (BA ’05) was presented with those monumental calls to action throughout his career, he knew his overarching goal was to honour his ancestors and “make things better for future generations.”

  Davey often reflected on the refrain of his father when faced with decisions about how to best serve his community and become a person of substance.

  “What’s the more difficult thing to do?” his father would ask.

  As Davey told the attendees of the fourth annual Indigenous Leader Speaker Series on June 20, “That’s where the magic is — where you don’t want to go and what you don’t want to do.”

  

  Jon Davey (BA ’05), Chief of Staff to the President and CEO of Scotiabank, was the selected speaker for Brock’s 2024 Indigenous Leaders Speaker Series, which took place online on June 20.

  The community webinar took place in the lead up to National Indigenous People’s Day, which recognizes the heritage and diversity of First Nations, Inuit and Métis people across Canada.

  Hosted by Vice-Provost, Indigenous Engagement Robyn Bourgeois, the speaker series is a partnership between the Office of the Vice-Provost, Indigenous Engagement and the Goodman School of Business.

  “I didn’t want us just to focus on the hard things Indigenous people go through —which we have to — I also wanted to celebrate indigenous excellence,” Bourgeois said. “Jon embodies the spirit of Indigenous excellence.”

  Davey is a proud member of the Lower Cayuga of Six Nations of the Grand River. A lawyer by trade, the Brock graduate and Board of Trustees member is currently the Chief of Staff to the President and CEO of Scotiabank. He also spent a decade working with the Federal Crown counsel in the Aboriginal Law Division of the Department of Justice Canada.

  As a young person beginning his academic journey, however, Davey admits he was nervous to leave the comforts of his home in Hamilton, Ont., where he felt acceptance of his culture and heritage as the son of a Haudenosaunee father and non-Indigenous mother.

  When he arrived on campus, however, he said he found a community where he could “stand tall and be proud” of who he was while completing a Bachelor of Arts in Business Communication in an environment that both supported and challenged him.

  “Brock’s probably had the most integral impact on me becoming a person, becoming a young adult, and taking responsibility, and I’m very grateful for the support I received throughout my time here,” he said. “When my four years was up, I didn’t want to leave; I was comfortable again, like I had been before I left home.”

  Along with that strong sense of community, Davey has also looked to the traditional teachings of his ancestors to guide his career decisions, noting that he approaches challenges and opportunities with a “good mind and good heart.”

  He ties this back to the messages of the Two Row Wampum belt, the symbolic record of an agreement made in 1613 between the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and Dutch settlers. It features two parallel beaded rows that represent two boats, reflecting two entities that progress side-by-side in mutual respect.

  “When you think about the Two Row Wampum there is this idea of harmony and peace and I want to see that more and I want to be that change,” he said. “There is harmony, but there still needs to be shared understanding, there still needs to be a bridge from time to time.”

  He said the common thread woven through his work — whether with the federal government, in the financial sector or directly with the community — is understanding and sharing “that value of partnership and working together, and, at the same time, exemplifying it.”

  He also stressed that it is crucial to thank those who supported and charted a path forward before him, and that he hopes to do the same for future generations who will continue to do the work after him — including his two young children.

  Although he joked that lawyers are often taught to give “recommendations” rather than “advice,” he also left new and future graduates with some parting words from his father, which he said have always served him well.

  “If you have something of substance to say, you’re always going to have an audience,” he said.

  A recording of the event will be shared on the Indigenous Leader Speaker Series web page.

• Canadian newscaster’s journey began with Brock internship

  Monday, June 10, 2024 | By Connor Wilkes

  This article written by Amanda Bishop, it originally appeared in The Brock News

  When Alessandra Carneiro (BA ’16) first began dreaming of a career in broadcasting back in high school, she couldn’t have guessed that she would be sitting behind an anchor desk a few years later.

  Today, the Brock Media and Communications alumna is an anchor and reporter for CTV News Barrie and has anchored nationally for CTV News Channel.

  She advises students approaching graduation to keep lessons learned in the classroom fresh in their minds as they may need that information sooner than they think.

  “I remember learning about the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) and thinking at the time, you know, will I ever really need this?” she says. “Now, every single day, the CRTC and its regulations are vital to my work.”

  Carneiro frequently returns to campus to speak with students in the Department of Communication, Popular Culture and Film (CPCF) about how her experience in the fourth-year internship course enabled her to achieve her career goals.

  “My internship at the local cable station taught me every aspect of the business, from what to look for when shooting a story to how to make sure that your writing matches the visuals to editing,” she says. “My supervisor knew my goals and helped me get the right stories to create a good demo, and that ultimately got me my first job on camera.”

  But Carneiro didn’t have a chance to use the demo right away. While still in her fourth year at Brock, she took the first job she could find with a major media company, handing out swag at events. After graduation, she worked in radio marketing and promotion before moving into media sales.

  When an opening finally came up for an anchor in Yorkton, Sask., Carneiro had her demo ready. She landed the role at age 25.

  She soon moved to Saskatoon, where she spent two years as a weekend anchor and reporter. The news stories she filed sometimes attracted national attention, and she was able to return to Ontario three years ago for her current role at CTV Barrie.

  Carneiro says that in a changing media landscape, her Brock degree has provided her with the context and agility to take on roles in various parts of the industry.

  “When I came into the business, I wasn’t solely coming from a journalism program or a broadcasting program,” she says. “My program included a variety of different ways to approach media and to learn about different sectors, which gave me skills and knowledge that have really helped me on my career journey.”

  Kate Cassidy (MEd’01, PhD’13) regularly invites Carneiro to speak to current CPCF interns and says that she is “a shining testament to the value of our media program’s comprehensive foundation, enriched by experiential learning.”

  “I truly appreciate Alessandra’s willingness to return to the classroom and mentor our students,” says Cassidy. “Her journey serves as a powerful reminder that with diligence and passion, they too can become trailblazers, just as she has done.”

  Carneiro always reminds students that openness can make all the difference to a career path.

  “Be open to every opportunity, even if it’s not the opportunity that you initially had in mind, and be willing to learn every aspect of a field because you will find your way,” she says. “ And network fearlessly — the careers of friends and mentors grow with yours, and they become voices in leadership who can vouch for what a hard worker you are and how passionate you are.”

• Jennifer Good examines how a “turning it off” approach to climate change could help the climate, Canada and you.

  Wednesday, January 31, 2024 | By Connor Wilkes

  

  This article written by Jennifer Good, Associate Professor of Communication, Popular Culture and Film, originally appeared in The Conversation.

  The challenge for climate change communicators a couple of decades ago was conveying what the research was showing: that the burning of fossil fuels was altering the planet’s climate. That communication played a vital role in facilitating the current widespread understanding that the climate is changing and it is a crisis

  There remains, however, a fundamental communication challenge in moving the focus from consuming different kinds of energy to facilitating a revolution of consuming less. Recent electrical grid events in Alberta offer a compelling case study.

  On Jan. 13, 2024, extreme cold hit Alberta — the coldest in half a century. As people turned up their thermostats to stay warm, Alberta’s power grid was put under immense strain. To avoid taking pressure off the electrical grid with rolling blackouts (rotating half an hour power outages throughout Alberta), the Alberta Emergency Management Agency sent an alert to all Albertans.

  This unprecedented use of the emergency system, the first of what would be four alerts, asked Albertans to turn off unnecessary electricity — lights, electrical appliances and devices — and use “essentials only.”

  Albertans responded. Within minutes of the initial emergency alert being issued, demand on Alberta’s power grid decreased by 150 megawatts and continued to fall. Alberta has an estimated generative capacity of around 16,330 megawatts..

  Because many people and some businesses voluntarily switched off appliances and other electrical devices that were not needed, there was no need for the rolling blackouts.

  Switching off

  The brief experience of turning off highlighted a couple of things. First, that people are willing to change behaviours when asked. Second, the behaviour change, for some, was positive. As one Albertan posted on Reddit

  “Our kids made a game out of it. Showered with a candle in the bathroom, we had one small light to read books, ALL the lights off in and outside the house, no TV obviously.”

  Another poster on the same Reddit thread offered that their 10-year-old excitedly asked that all the lights and TV be turned off and added: “It looks like the alert does work.”

  In the aftermath, the news has focused on critiques of Alberta’s current energy generation and how to facilitate growing energy output in the future as fossil-fuels continue to be phased out. Politicians and experts wondered how the grid could be more robust and fail-safe so that there is no need to ask people to turn things off.

  Critiques of solar and wind were also quickly offered as were the benefits of new power generation such as Alberta’s Cascade Power Project — a 900 megawatt natural gas-fired plant — and increased energy generation flexibility.

  But what if the opportunity in Alberta’s power grid struggles is not about producing different kinds of energy but consuming less?

  Looking beyond supply

  The January cold wave is a critical moment to reflect upon the status quo and reimagine a system that values consuming less, not producing more.

  Alberta’s electrical grid alerts gave us a glimpse, for a few hours, of a topic largely absent from climate communication: we are consuming too much of everything. We must use and consume less. Less energy, less stuff. We cannot consume our way out of this crisis.

  We must consume less, and Albertans proved that this is not only possible but can even be a positive experience.

  It is also important, in the depths of an unprecedented cold-weather event, to not lose sight of the fact that globally 2023 was the warmest year on record “by far” — beating 2016 (the previous record-setting year) by .15 degrees Celsius (also a record).

  The 10 warmest years on record — since 1850 — have been in the past 10 years and this changing climate is causing extreme wildfires, tornadoes, cyclones, drought, flooding, heat and cold. Here and around the world lives and habitats are indiscriminately being destroyed. This is our emergency alert.

  A new normal

  Shifting to turning off and reducing consumption patterns for individuals, businesses and industry will be incredibly hard. The global economy, and related jobs, are built on consuming more. But the climate crisis, as well as growing inequality and ecosystem destruction, will make status quo levels of consumption increasingly untenable.

  The Alberta Emergency Management Agency sent emergency alerts asking people to turn off because the alternative would have been mandatory rolling blackouts. Asking people to turn off voluntarily allowed Albertans to respond with thoughtfulness, dignity and agency.

  We, collectively across Canada and around the world, are in an emergency. The climate crisis is upon us and we have a choice. We can delay structural change and await the extreme climate crisis consequences. Or we can demand that government and industry implement the systemic changes required to avert (or at least mitigate) this catastrophe.

  Regardless, the lessons from Alberta are clear. We could all try “turning off” from time to time — saving money, helping the planet and perhaps reconnecting with friends and family. That, if nothing else, could be a benefit worth championing.

  Categories: News

• Dragons’ Den pitch proves successful for CPCF student

  Saturday, October 21, 2023 | By Connor Wilkes

  

  Brock student Cecily Zeppetella, together with her father Pete Zeppetella, entered the Dragons’ Den earlier this month and walked away with not one but two investors.

  The fourth-year Media and Communications student took part in her father’s pitch for Zeppsgear, which produces patented outerwear for labourers working at heights. The company’s jackets allow for safety harnesses to be worn underneath without a risk of choking in the event of a fall.

  The pitch, which lasted about 40 minutes in real time, demonstrated the effectiveness of the gear with a surprise dummy drop from the studio ceiling, catching the Dragons off-guard.

  Zeppetella says the pressure of the pitch combined with that of being on camera and following production’s cues, while wearing warm jackets under studio lights, made for an interesting and exciting experience.

  And the outcome is just what she and her dad hoped for.

  “We’ve had opportunities from investors before, so it was more about the Dragons’ expertise rather than the money for us,” says Zeppetella. “We knew that it would be a good kick-start on the marketing side and that some of the individuals on the panel would be able to help us wanting to regulate or mandate the product.”

  She notes that website traffic spiked after the episode aired on Thursday, Oct. 5, and that the women’s line sold out quickly.

  “We got orders, which was great, but we also had wholesalers and distributors reaching out to us, especially for the women’s side because it’s hard to find good quality women’s workwear,” she says. “We’ve been really focused on the southern part of Ontario, but now we have a lot of people from out west reaching out, and we have a fashion show coming up in B.C. for safety wear for women.”

  Zeppetella, who started at Brock in Business Communication, says she changed majors when she realized how keen she was on media policy and research. These interests and her training have served her well as she has grown more involved in the family business over the past few years, looking at how Zeppsgear might be mandated and thinking creatively about how to get her father’s innovations into broad use.

  “Cecily’s experiences in applying policy and research ideas from her CPCF degree really resonates with me,” says Associate Professor Karen L. Smith in the Department of Communication, Popular Culture and Film. “I have seen first-hand that Cecily leverages both classroom and co-curricular opportunities to develop innovative ideas, like enhancing worker safety through Zeppsgear.”

  Zeppetella believes that community involvement should be a big part of any entrepreneurial journey. She says she has worked hard to involve Zeppsgear with different organizations, charities and safety training programs, and has jumped at opportunities to engage, including at Brock.

  “In the Goodman School of Business, Zeppsgear was studied by one of the marketing classes in 2021 as a case study,” she says. “For a startup, I think it’s really important to be connected, especially to growing minds and youth for perspective — and you never know who you’re going to meet.”

  Watch the full Zeppsgear pitch on the Dragons’ Den website.

  Written by Amanda Bishop

  Categories: News

• Brock TV Render This is BACK!

  Wednesday, September 27, 2023 | By Connor Wilkes

  

  Are you a future film maker looking for an opportunity to create…and possibly win prizes?  Not a film maker, but wish to support your fellow Badgers?  Either way, this event is for you!

  Important dates:

  September 29th Students can start signing up in groups of 3-5 people

  October 12th Deadline to have your group

  October 13th Video brief is sent out to participants

  October 27th Deadline to submit the video

  November 8th Film screenings and awards!!

  First Prize $500 gift card of your choice

  Second Prize $250 gift card of your choice

  Audience Choice Award $200 gift card of your choice

  Please use this link for more information about the event!

  Categories: Events

• Chair’s Welcome Message

  Wednesday, September 06, 2023 | By Connor Wilkes

   

  

  Greetings Incoming and Returning CPCF Students –

  I would like to start the 2023-2024 academic year with a very warm welcome. You are joining – or perhaps returning to – a unique department. Communication, Popular Culture and Film brings together a wide range of topics and approaches to the study, research and general critical exploration of these three intertwined disciplines. And what could be timelier in the era of unprecedented realities such as artificial intelligence, fake news and climate change?

  I often think and talk about the fact that it is communication, in all its forms, that underlies everything. At a broad level, this means that how we understand ourselves, others, the world – it is all communication. At a narrower level, there is no job, no career, and no graduate discipline that does not involve communication. In other words, the time you spend in CPCF will serve you very well no matter where life takes you. Yes, CPCF is the place to be!
  So, whether you are graduating this fall or spring – or you are just starting your CPCF voyage and will graduate years from now – we are glad that you are here. You are part of an ever-growing community of engaged scholarship and people who care deeply about the vital importance of communication, popular culture and film.

  Jennifer Good, Chair and Associate Professor