Mitch Diamantopoulos

Biography

A founder of two of Saskatchewan’s newest mass media outlets (Planet S Magazine in Saskatoon in 2002 and Prairie Dog Magazine in Regina in 1993), Mitch brings the School over fifteen years of frontline experience in reporting, editing, publishing and alt-weekly journalism. One out of three urban adults in Regina and Saskatoon now read one of these independent, local papers. Nationally recognized, the prairie dog was also awarded the Saskatchewan Co-operative Enterprise Award in 1996, recognizing “outstanding achievement, innovation and initiative”. In 2007, Mitch was named director of the Saskatchewan Labour Market Commission by the Province of Saskatchewan, representing the social economy. In 2008, Canadian Dimension Magazine recognized Mitch as a “journalist changing the world.” In 2010, his edited collection of Minifie Lectures was short-listed for a Saskatchewan Book Award for Publishing in Education. In 2012 Mitch received the Best Dissertation Award from the Association for Non-Profit and Social Economy Research and was named a Centre Scholar with the internationally recognized Centre for the Study of Cooperatives at the University of Saskatchewan. In 2013, he was awarded the Best Article Award by the Canadian Journal of Non-Profit and Social Economy Research. Mitch has served as the School’s Department Head since 2007 and led the launch of the School’s Master’s program, the first graduate journalism program on the Prairies. He currently teaches Contemporary Topics in Journalism, is developing advanced curricula in Journalism History and Journalism Theory for the Master’s stream and is working on a book on the history of economic democracy in Canada.

Research Interest

Research interests History, politics and political economy of mass media, including alternative media. Media sociology and media cultural studies. Democratic approaches to journalism theory. Journalism history, particularly on the Canadian Prairies. Media reform movements and innovative firm models for journalism. Cooperative studies, community economic development and the social economy. The role of journalism in an age of religious backlash, bigotry and violence.