So you’re thinking of volunteering with The Ontarion? That’s great! Before diving in, you may have a few questions, such as…
What is The Ontarion?
Good question. To put it briefly, The Ontarion is the independent campus community newspaper at the University of Guelph. Since 1951, we have published news, opinion, photography, satire, art, movie reviews, and everything in between as we pursue our goal of telling the stories that live within our community.
But really, for all you undergrads out there, The Ontarion is YOUR newspaper.
You heard us right.
We are an independent non-profit corporation and are primarily funded by undergraduate student fees. This means that we work for you.
But what does that look like? Well, let’s take a look…
What does The Ontarion do?
Your first guess might be that we cover the news and create other types of content, and you’d be right. But we do so much more than that.
We provide a forum for covering stories that affect students and the U of G community. Since we are funded by undergrad students here at U of G, that means almost every decision we make is focused on benefiting you. As an independent organization, no one censors us or tells us what to write. That means we are free to cover the stories that are in your interest!
We also provide opportunities for our volunteers. We firmly believe in the values of self-improvement and continuous learning, so you don’t have to worry about how much experience you have (even if it’s none!). We want everyone to have the chance to help us tell our community’s stories, regardless of experience or English-language proficiency. Everyone is welcome to volunteer and develop their skills with us. We all have to start somewhere right?
We have a wide range of ways that you can pitch in and improve your skills while you’re at it!
Why should I volunteer?
Everyone gets something unique out of it. Maybe you want to…
Improve your communication. Communication isn’t a single skill, it’s a collection of skills. Writing for a newspaper involves collaboration, teamwork, discussion, and more. By volunteering with The Ontarion you’ll find your communication skills improve as well as your confidence!
Improve your resume and chances of getting a job. Maybe you’re a great writer and skilled communicator. Heck, maybe you could even teach us a thing or two! Employers aren’t going to take your word for it though. They want to SEE that you have the skills they are looking for. We can help you with this, just tell us what your goals are! What do you want to get experience with?
Be a part of something special. Not to get all corny, but we really do think what we do is special. All of us here at The Ontarion firmly believe in the power of journalism and storytelling to strengthen our community and to improve people’s lives. The work we do is rewarding in so many different ways and we would love for you to be a part of it!
Fill out this form and our Editor-in-Chief will be in touch to ask about how you might like to help out!
What if I don’t want to volunteer?
Not interested in contributing? Too much writing to do already? Not enough time? We hear you. Volunteering may not be in the cards right now. However, we welcome you to get involved in other ways, such as…
Read The Ontarion!
Pick up a paper copy…
- A newspaper is not full of notifications and emails. It’s YOUR time and a nice mindfulness break
- Doing the crossword and sudoku in pen will not ruin your laptop screen
- Easier on the eyes than a screen
- A fancy paper hat can be fashioned after you finish reading it
Read it digitally…
- It’s the year 2020 and you have a pocket computer
- Instant access to the latest issue
- More multimedia content
- You can also access articles on our website, though it is a work in progress so please bear with us!
Follow us on social media!
- YouTube
Give us your feedback!
Do you love what we do? Hate what we do? Think we have a great personality but just want to be friends? If you think we can do better let us know.
- Write a Letter to the Editor
- Send us an email
- Send us anonymous feedback