ALLISON CROSS

*Updated below

The documentary about electronic waste I helped produce with the UBC Graduate School of Journalism has been nominated for two Emmy Awards. The documentary, which investigated the illegal export of broken computers and other electronics to the developing world, aired last June on PBS Frontline/World. We received nominations for Outstanding Investigative Journalism and Outstanding Research.

I'm still in shock.

Most journalists work their entire careers for this kind of honour. The nominations have received quite a bit of attention, seeing as it's the first time Canadian journalism students have ever been nominated for an Emmy.

Pinch me.

**Update: I got the chance to talk about the nominations on the CBC Radio show All Points West. You can listen to the interview here.

Canwest is no more, after the deal to purchase the chain of newspapers went through last week. Here is an excerpt from a story in the Toronto Star:

The company headed by National Post chief executive Paul Godfrey that is buying the Canwest newspapers will be called Postmedia Network Inc.

The new company will hold some of Canada’s largest daily newspapers including the National Post, Vancouver Sun, Calgary Herald and Ottawa Citizen.

“Postmedia Network reflects both where we have been and where we are going,” Godfrey said in a statement released Friday.

“From the earliest days of information delivery via post, to the current online world of posting news and information as it happens and looking ahead to the continuous evolution of a post-media universe, our new name reflects both the strong legacy and the exciting future of media as we prepare to emerge as a new Canadian business.”

Last month, an Ontario Superior Court judge gave the green light for Canwest Global Communications Corp. to sell its newspaper division to a group of its creditors led by Godfrey.

My place of employment, the wire service for the chain of papers, is now called Postmedia News (formerly Canwest News Service). It's been a bit of an adjustment learning to use the new name, but I'm sure in a week or so, it will start to feel normal.

People often ask me which beat I cover as a journalist. But while there are several topics I enjoy covering more than others, I don't have a specialty, like education or health care. I'm a general assignment reporter. Something happens — a natural disaster, a political announcement, a car accident — and I cover it. This can be frustrating, as I'm not considered an expert in anything, but it can also be lots of fun, because I cover something different every day. Here is a sample of some of the stories I've written this year.

Nudists are gearing up for the summer season and have turned to social media to promote their 'nakations.'

A study out of Calgary found that body checking in PeeWee hockey triples the injury rate.
A gay couple from New York city has offered to pay for their AIDS drugs if they get permission to emigrate to Canada.

Residents of Walkerton, Ont., commemorated the ten year anniversary of the water crisis that sickened an entire community.

A particularly lovely friend of mine, Vikki VanSickle, will publish her first book this fall. It's a young adult novel published by Scholastic Canada. It's an amazing feat, and I can't wait to read the book. Oh, and this is Vikki, looking particularly lovely.

Ghana: Digital Dumping Ground, the short documentary I helped produce last year as a part of the UBC Graduate School of Journalism's international journalism class has won a Society of Professional Journalists award.

Splitting into three groups, we filmed the piece, about the illegal export of broken computers and other electronics, in China and Hong Kong, Ghana and India. The documentary was a collaboration by many people, including Doerthe Keilholz, Dan Haves and Ian Bickis (and several other talented folks who don't have websites). Our class was led by producer/professor Peter Klein and CBS News Johannesburg correspondent Sarah Carter.

Ten of us former students have also been nominated for the Livingston Young Journalists Award for International Reporting for our work on the documentary. The winners will be announced June 2.