-By Charles Kopun, managing editor, Niagara News and coordinator, Journalism
In the newsroom, Phyllis Barnatt was a fearless journalist. In the classroom, she was a sometimes-feared but much-loved professor.
Phyllis retired at the end of June after more than 25 years in the Journalism faculty here at Niagara. She wanted no fanfare, no public goodbyes. “We report the news; we are not the news,” as she would say.
Over that quarter century, she witnessed monumental changes in her beloved profession and ably prepared thousands of students for it. Her imprint on the program is indelible. And her legacy is quite literally everywhere. Her students now work all over the world and a great many of the reporters, editors and media professionals in the Niagara Region were trained by her.
She was tough and demanding, qualities she acquired as a reporter and editor in Fort Erie before she turned to teaching. But she was equally encouraging and nurturing.
Missed a deadline because of a death in the family? “I’m so sorry for your loss. Are you OK? Now you’re going to have to show me the death notice,” she would finish. “I’ve had students with an implausibly long string of tragedies in one semester.” The following week, she would hold the student’s hand and help them if they were struggling either in or outside the classroom.
She was both leader and frontline worker. She spent a lot of her time here in the editing trenches. She dismantled and then helped rebuild the very raw stories of young reporters so that they could be published in the Niagara News.
She ran the Journalism program for much of her time here and was understandably proud of it. Our students regularly win provincial and national awards competing against colleges and universities with much bigger programs than ours, thanks in no small part to her.
Phyllis was always graceful under deadline pressure. She cared for her craft; she cared for her students. And it always showed. Phyllis, we will continue to try to work as hard as you did and make you proud.
