Today’s youth have access to a trove of information beyond what previous generations could even have imagined. There is an entire planet’s worth of complicated issues at their fingertips, and Trent alumna Angelica Cooper will play a crucial role in helping deliver this news for youth – all thanks to an internship opportunity through the University.

“CBC has great children's programming, and it has great adult programming, but where there's a gap when it comes to youth and teens,” says Ms. Cooper, a recent Trent graduate who has been hired full-time at CBC Kids News, a multimedia platform that mixes coverage of issues like climate change with stories on pop culture, sports, animals, and profiles of young Canadians.

“CBC Kids really wants to hit the middle ground with news that's informative, but also accessible. Today’s teens are very much about unfiltered access. They want news that’s sincere and not too serious, but they also want coverage of serious issues like gun violence. And they don’t want the news to talk down to them. Today’s 13-16 year olds are wickedly smart. They’re learning and accessing information at a rate that I couldn't fathom at that age – and I’m pretty young.”

Ms. Cooper, who studied History and Indigenous Studies at Trent, was hired after completing the 2019 CBC Radio Peter Gzowski internship. The paid internship, which students complete following their final year of study, is awarded to students at four Canadian universities that have a connection to the long-time editor, author, and CBC radio host, Peter Gzowski, who served as Trent’s chancellor from 1999 until his death in 2002.

As part of the internship, Ms. Cooper received one week of radio production training, followed by a rotation through different radio programs. Cooper leaned heavily on her experience at Trent Radio during her time as an intern.

“On Trent Radio, you have to be a producer of your own show, and come up with everything from the ground up,” says Ms. Cooper.

“Radio editing, production and even script writing. It gave me the tools to soar at the CBC. When you go in as an intern and as a non-journalism student, you have to learn everything all over again. But I had that base from Trent Radio, and it was a huge advantage. It gave me all kinds of skills that I could apply to the job. It’s what allowed me to stand out – and what got me hired.”