Introduction to Catholic Journalism (2024-2025)
In response to alumni feedback, this non-credit professional development course is now offered over two 12-week semesters: one in Fall 2024 and one in Winter 2025. The format includes lectures, discussions and assignments.
This online course is for aspiring journalists and working journalists in Canada, the U.S. or abroad at any stage of their career interested in working in Catholic news production. Ideal for Catholic media who want to train a new hire and communications directors seeing insight into how to pitch and work with journalists.
Registration for the Winter Semester is now open.
Cost: $125 Canadian per semester
Registration is limited to 20 students.
To register, please use the link below.
Fall Semester: Foundations in Journalism
Sept. 24, 2024-Dec. 10, 2024
Tuesdays, 7:30 p.m.-9 p.m. Eastern
The fall semester will focus on the foundations of Catholic journalism, including the theology of Catholic journalism, basic journalism skills, such as the interview and what makes a good story, and ethics for the Catholic newsroom.
Fall 2024 Schedule
Sept. 24, 2024, 7:30 p.m. — Approaches to Catholic Journalism
Oct. 1, 2024, 7:30 p.m. — Foundations of Journalistic Writing, Part 1
Oct. 8, 2024, 7:30 p.m. — Journalistic Ethics
Oct. 15, 2024, 7:30 p.m. — Foundations of Journalistic Writing, Part 2
Oct. 22, 2024, 7:30 p.m. — Journalism Mechanics, Part 1: The Interview
Oct. 29, 2024, 7:30 p.m. — Church Teaching on Social Communications
Nov. 5, 2024, 7:30 p.m. — Journalism Mechanics, Part 2: Pitching and assignment
Nov. 12, 2024, 7:30 p.m. — News and Feature Photography
Nov. 19, 2024, 7:30 p.m. — Journalism Mechanics, Part 3: Editing and Being Edited
Nov. 26, 2024, 7:30 p.m. — The Deadline Rush: Where’s That Story?
Dec. 3, 2024, 7:30 p.m. — Hed and Body
Dec. 10, 2024, 7:30 p.m. — “Overset”
Winter Semester
Jan. 21, 2025-April 8, 2025
Tuesdays, 7:30 p.m.-9 p.m. Eastern
In the winter semester, students will choose a topic among the list below to learn about in depth and/or to polish their skills in this area. Prerequisite: Foundations in Journalism.
Special Topics offered in 2025:
Get That Shot! Catholic Photojournalism
With Jermaine Bagnall
This 12-week course will provide an in-depth look at photojournalism through a Catholic lens, focusing on both technical skills and ethical storytelling. Participants will learn the basics of composition, lighting, and capturing meaningful moments while exploring the principles of truth, dignity, and compassion rooted in Catholic teaching. Through practical examples, biblical references, and interactive exercises, students will gain the foundation skills to tell compelling visual stories that honor the human person and reflect Gospel values.
Catholic Social Teaching Journalism (Long-form journalism)
With Laura Ieraci
Learn a new proven method of reporting on issues of social justice from a Catholic perspective, including the church’s response to social injustice and its impact. This course will elaborate on the mechanics of feature writing and longform journalism, the methodology employed in Catholic Social Teaching (CST) journalism, and basic CST principles. It will also situate this new approach among other socially minded forms of journalism that developed since the 1990s, including civic journalism, constructive journalism and solutions journalism, highlighting the impact of CST journalism for Catholic publications. Articles produced during the course may be published on CCN or elsewhere.
Precision and Polish
With Paul Schratz
A hands-on journey through the essentials of editing for writers and aspiring editors looking to sharpen copy and cut through the clutter. We’ll tackle common stumbling blocks in writing news and opinion, focusing on clarity, flow, and strong storytelling. Whether it’s tightening up verbiage, keeping tenses consistent, or using attribution effectively, this course offers techniques to help editors elevate writers’ work — and help writers stay in their editor’s good books.
Intensive News Writing
With Peter Stockland
The course will assume a basic understanding of what constitutes news. Classes will centre on students producing stories that are assigned, edited and improved during the 12 weeks of the session. Content from the course may be submitted for publication on the Canadian Catholic News website or elsewhere.
Emphasis will be placed on improving news writing skills while increasing writing speed without loss of accuracy or style. Students who complete the course should be able to say: “No one writes better or faster than I do. Those who write better can’t write faster, and those who write faster can’t write better.”
Winter 2025 Schedule
Jan. 21, 2025, 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 28, 2025, 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 4, 2025, 7:30 p.m.
Feb.11, 2025, 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 18, 2025, 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 25, 2025, 7:30 p.m.
March 4, 2025, 7:30 p.m.
March 11, 2025, 7:30 p.m.
March 18, 2025, 7:30 p.m.
March 25, 2025, 7:30 p.m.
April 1, 2025, 7:30 p.m.
April 8, 2025, 7:30 p.m.
To register for the Winter Semester please send an email to info@canadiancatholicnews.ca.
Our Instructors
Jermaine Bagnall
Jermaine Bagnall is a seasoned media professional with over a decade of experience in storytelling, content creation, and multimedia production. He has collaborated with prominent organizations like The Mastercard Foundation and Salt + Light Media, specializing in creating impactful narratives through audio and video. Drawing from his extensive background in podcasting and Catholic journalism, Jermaine is passionate about equipping others with the tools and insights needed to launch meaningful and engaging podcasts.
Barb Fraze
Barb Fraze has been on both sides of story pitches. For years she was receiving them, when she served as international editor of the now-closed Catholic News Service in Washington. Today, as a freelance journalist, she sends pitches to editors. She is the 2023 recipient of the Catholic Media Association’s St. Francis de Sales Award, which recognizes “outstanding contributions to Catholic journalism.”
Laura Ieraci
Laura Ieraci is editor of ONE magazine. Previously, she worked at Catholic News Service and Vatican Radio in Rome, Horizons of the Eparchy of Parma in the U.S., the Archdiocese of Montreal and the Catholic Times in Canada. She has freelanced widely and has won multiple journalism awards. She serves on the board of Canadian Catholic News and is the founder of The Religion & Journalism Project.
Paul Schratz
Paul Schratz has over 40 years’ experience in journalism, having worked as a reporter, photographer, editorial page editor, columnist, and editor at daily and weekly newspapers in Ontario and British Columbia. He started with the Archdiocese of Vancouver in 1997, serving at various times as communications director and editor of The B.C. Catholic, his current position. He is also editorial and outreach manager for Canadian Catholic News, overseeing news and social media strategies, fundraising, and outreach initiatives.
Joseph Sinasac
Joseph Sinasac, recently retired as publishing director of Novalis Publishing, has had a career in journalism and religious publishing spanning 45 years. He worked as a reporter and editor for daily newspapers before joining The Catholic Register in Toronto in 1995, where he was the publisher and editor until joining Novalis in 2009. He has authored three books and has served for many years in various roles on the board of the Catholic Media Association. He was inducted this year into the Association of Catholic Publishers’ Hall of Fame.
Peter Stockland
Peter Stockland has been the publisher and editor of The Catholic Register in Canada’s largest Catholic newspaper, since January 2022. He assumed direction of the Register, where he had been a freelance columnist for 12 years, after more than 40 years in newspapers and magazines across Canada. He is a former editor-in-chief of The Montreal Gazette, vice-president of English-language magazines for Reader’s Digest Canada, and co-founded Convivium magazine in 2011. He has published books of fiction and photo essays.
This course is conducted via Zoom.
All time is Eastern Time Zone (Toronto/Canada, New York/USA)