Bright future for media program grads

It was a long road to launching a local media program for aspiring Kanesatake journalists - much longer than it took for the first cohort to complete the program - but the efforts of administrators, teachers, and students alike have paid off.

“I think through this training course we’re building up a team,” said Karahkóhare Syd Gaspé, who was a teacher for the program and is the president of Mohawk MultiMedia, the nonprofit that oversees Reviving Kanehsatà:ke Radio (RKR) 101.7 FM. For Gaspé, the program was an opportunity to ensure a stream of homegrown radio professionals to help take RKR to the next level.

“This team now from Kanesatake will be able to respond to the needs that we have to build this radio station, to continue to make it flourish. It makes me feel proud to know there are people that are going to continue down this path of radio and media, to offer content to Kanesatake,” said Gaspé.

Having trained people on the air also helps ensure the station can continue to build up its credibility by producing quality content.

He saw the difference it made, he said, with the students growing by leaps and bounds over the course heading into a 10-day internship that many did.

“I saw the internship course outline and said wow, they’re asking to produce newscasts in the newsroom. I was thinking of RKR not having a newsroom and saying how are we going to do this?” he said. “One of the last classes in May was to actually do that, how to produce a newscast. They went through the drill and repeatedly produced news. After that class, I was confident. I was actually amazed.”

Beginning in June, some have stayed on for 26 weeks of subsidized employment, thanks to the involvement of the Kanesatake Employment and Training Service Center (KETSC), a key partner in the program, securing not only funding for students and interns but also the participation of the CEGEP, Kiuna College, which enabled the program to be accredited.

For the students, the experience had the potential to be a rewarding one despite the learning curve.

“Like every job and school, it came with its stressful times where it got overwhelming. Pushing through and staying positive with a goal in mind was how I made it through,” said Samantha Simon, who has stayed on with RKR.

“A special moment where I gained most of my confidence was when we were in the newscast class. I was assigned as the anchor that day. As someone as introverted and shy as me, I did a really good job at reading the entire newscast. It sounded professional and everyone was so kind and congratulated me.”

She now plans to do her part to help build up the community’s radio station, and she’s having a great experience so far.

“If you’re hungry for a career that is completely different, the radio is the way to go. It’s a whole different vibe. The support and positivity will get you hooked, and to be part of your community in such a positive way is very rewarding,” she said.

Meanwhile, her classmate Tess Lalonde found that besides doing interviews, she loves the sales side of radio, so she plans to focus on this niche in contributing to RKR.

“I like sales, and I like being involved with people,” she said.

The outcome was worth the difficulties of the program, she said.

“I feel really good that I did graduate. At my age, it wasn’t easy,” said Lalonde.

As part of her internship, she contributed to K1037 Radio in Kahnawake, where she worked on commercials.

Sterling Mallette, another student in the program and another member of the RKR team – even recently broadcasting the Kanesatake lacrosse jamboree – did two days at K1037 as part of his internship.

“I worked under Paul Graif and it was a great experience. Honestly made me realize what I have to work up to be. Paul was on the ball and got it done fast,” he said.

For Steve Bonspiel, editor/publisher of The Eastern Door, who taught a news coverage class for the course, the program is exactly what Kanesatake needs.

“I think the community as a whole needs something that can grab them like this and give them hope, and I think that’s what this did,” said Bonspiel, who added that he thinks Kahnawake could similarly benefit from such a program.

“I couldn’t be more proud of my students. I think they just knocked it out of the park, even the ones who had difficulty. They understood their path better.

“One of our students actually kind of stepped laterally and went into the language program, which I encouraged wholeheartedly,” he said. “That’s what it is, it’s about this process of discovery. You have to discover who you are, not just as a student but as a person and as Onkwehón:we.”

Many of those involved have expressed a hope that the program will become a regular feature, giving others the chance to benefit from it.

“I am very grateful this amazing program has been given in Kanesatake,” said Simon. “It gives the chance to community members who want to have a legitimate, rewarding career a possibility.

“To have succeeded and pushed through the rough spots and made it to the end, I hope inspires others to do the same.”

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Marcus Bankuti, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter