Toronto sports fans may be able to reel off the stats on their favourite Raptors, Maple Leafs or Blue Jays athletes, but they’re less likely to know about the College of Sports Media, the training ground for Canada’s sports broadcasting professionals.
Providing students with the skills they need to make it on-air and behind the scenes in radio and television, the private career college has graduated 16 cohorts — most of whom are now working in sports journalism and other related fields across Canada.
CSM’s practical learning methods, experienced instructors and guaranteed internships have long drawn those aspiring to be anchors, reporters, radio hosts, editors and camera operators.
But it’s no secret the media landscape has changed dramatically since the school opened in 2008.
Local sports coverage is dwindling, and Bell Media ended multiple television newscasts and announced layoffs at nearly half of its regional radio stations across Canada last year.
While he recognizes that kind of a move can be concerning for students looking to enter the industry, CSM president and reporting instructor David Lanys told TorontoToday there is context behind corporate media decisions that doesn’t get as much attention as layoffs.
“Part of it is a cost-cutting measure, part of it is a revamp of their current assets: the people,” he explained. “Yes, they may cut 600 people, but they hire back 250 or 300 of them to become freelancers. It’s never good, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not usually as bad as it sounds.”
(After publication of this article, Lanys got in touch with TorontoToday to clarify his estimation of layoff numbers. He said he spoke with more people in the sports broadcasting industry and now believes the figure is lower, although still "significant.")
So, how are the school’s administrators — who recently signed a 10-year lease at their new location in Liberty Village — tackling these trends?
Lanys said the idea is simple: modification.
“You adapt or you get left behind,” he said. “The world of broadcasting is changing. It’s going online, and we’re adapting our curriculum to reflect that.”
This includes adding courses on digital content creation and podcasting, which force “students to brand themselves.”
When it comes to artificial intelligence’s entry into the journalism sphere, Lanys doesn’t believe it will have a significant impact on the sports broadcasting world — at least for now.
“I’m not worried about it,” he said. “AI can’t analyze a shift in hockey, it can’t do play-by-play or colour commentary and it can’t do a talk show. In the news, how would AI do a report? Call somebody up and do an interview and then edit it together? It can’t.”
“Yes, it is changing,” he added. “But there’s always going to be that need to have an anchor, an analyst and reporters. That’s what really makes people watch.”
Despite the cuts and question marks, more than 85 per cent of the college’s graduates remain employed in the industry.
Canadians who tune into sports broadcasts would have a tough time avoiding the talent that has come out of CSM, according to Lanys.
Sportsnet regulars like Faizal Khamisa, Danielle Michaud and Shawn McKenzie, TSN notables like Kayla Grey and Raegan Subban, as well as dozens who work on-air and behind the scenes for CTV, CBC and CityNews, among others, all got their start at this small school.
After several years of COVID-related setbacks, the College of Sports Media, along with its 70 students and 15 faculty members, moved from its former George St. facility downtown to a fresh space on Mowat Ave. in Liberty Village.
An expiring lease and a disruptive condo build sparked the decision to migrate across the city.
“The property that was directly north of our old space was being demolished, and a 45-storey condo was going up,” Lanys said. “We had lived through construction there before, but this new building was going right up against ours.”
“The students seem happier now,” he added. “Before, we were in a building on a street. Now, we’re in a building, in a community. I really feel we have a facility to match our ideology — aesthetically, physically and emotionally. The geography has changed, but our philosophies have not.”
Disclaimer: TorontoToday reporter Alex Flood is a graduate of CSM.
