Cited’s Sam Finn and Gordon Katic wins 2018 President’s Staff Awards for Creativity & Innovation

Originally published on UBC’s Focus on People. This article showcases the diverse work conducted at the Michael Smith Laboratories. Cited is advised and supported by faculty at the Michael Smith Laboratories, including Dave Ng and Joanne Fox. The program is also produced out of the Michael Smith Laboratories at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

Sam Fenn (Media Producer) and Gordon Katic (Media Producer), Department of Political Science | Michael Smith Laboratories

Together, Sam Fenn and Gordon Katic co-host and produce Cited, an award-winning, syndicated, long-form radio podcast series. Telling compelling stories about academic research, the podcast makes research accessible to large and diverse audiences.

Gordon and Sam have shown exceptional ability and passion in breaking down barriers separating researchers from the public in this innovative new format of community-engaged journalism.

Unlike traditional research-outreach initiatives, Gordon and Sam have taken an innovative approach in their collaboration with students, scholars, and major media organizations to co-create their episodes. This unique production model offers a new path for knowledge mobilization, public policy communications, and partnership between researchers and journalists.

From funding to journalistic independence, any challenges facing the podcast were addressed by the team with a high level of creativity. The team created new editorial and ethical guidelines allowing the collaborative model of journalism to flourish and formed new partnerships with other organizations to expand their reach.

Cited’s popularity and critical acclaim in the media and knowledge mobilization circles signals a possible way forward for UBC and for other universities to share research and enrich public discourse.

Updated Sep 20, 2018: More exciting news with Cited! Cited is working with UBC President, Santa Ono, and Professor, Jennifer Gardy on The Blue and Goldcast podcast. Santa and Jennifer will discuss issues in higher education, from the perspective of UBC scholars, staff, and students. Each episode will focus on a different theme, such as student diversity, international engagement, women in STEM, and other topics. Listen to the podcast at www.blueandgoldcast.com. Congratulations to Cited on the exciting collaboration!