School of Journalism

Biography:

The Local News Research Project (www.localnewsresearchproject.ca), launched by associate professor April Lindgren, focuses on the role of news media in cities. The project employs content analysis and the computer mapping of local news stories to answer research questions about geographic patterns, topics and diversity in local news coverage in the Greater Toronto Area, one of the world's most diverse metropolitan regions.

Funded by both SSHRC and CERIS-The Ontario Metropolis Centre, The Local News Research Project was  launched in the spring of 2008. Studies to date range from an analysis of news reporting on socially and economically disadvantaged areas in Toronto to research on local news content in ethnocultural newspapers in the Greater Toronto Area. Work  currently underway includes an investigation of news coverage of the 2011 election in the ethnic press.

In 2011, April became the founding director of the Ryerson Journalism Research Centre.

Before joining Ryerson's School of Journalism faculty in 2007, April worked for more than 25 years as a political reporter, correspondent and editorial writer for the CanWest chain of newspapers. As a political reporter on Parliament Hill in Ottawa and then at Queen's Park in Toronto, her print and on-line stories appeared in CanWest publications including the National Post, Ottawa Citizen, Windsor Star, Montreal Gazette, Vancouver Sun, Edmonton Journal and Calgary Herald.

April, who has also been an urban affairs columnist for Metro newspaper in Toronto, has a bachelor of journalism degree from Carleton University and a diplôme in international relations from the Graduate School of International Studies in Geneva, Switzerland. In 2005-2006 she was the St. Clair Balfour journalism fellow at the University of Toronto's Massey College, where her studies focused on urban issues.

Her mystery novel, Headline: Murder, was nominated for an Arthur Ellis award for Best First Novel following its publication in 2008.

Qualifications:

Bachelor of Journalism, Carleton University; Diplôme in International Relations, Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva, Switzerland

Research Interest:

Media coverage of urban issues, provincial and municipal politics

Current Courses:

JRN 305 – Local reporting workshop

JN8104 - Urban Politics and Society for Journalists

Professional Affiliations:

Canadian Communication Association

Toronto Neighbourhood Research Network

CERIS-The Ontario Metropolis Centre

Association for Canadian Studies