My work with the G8 Research Group

I just got back from a few days in Chicago with the G8 Research Group. It's a group of University of Toronto students (grads and undergrads) and professors who track the Group of Eight, both throughout the year from Toronto and at summits as the action unfolds.

Me being a total tourist in downtown Chicago.

Note the NATO flags.

By far, the group's largest division is compliance, which tracks how each country follows each commitment. Hundreds of students are assigned specific topics and assign a rating, which is culminated in a report that tracks and scores each country's actions.

The smaller two divisions include civil society (researching NGOs, public participation and protests) and my division: media. We follow G8-related articles in the written press of each country and code data for what issues and countries are mentioned, and the position of editorials toward the G8 and its commitments.

The media unit is only a few years old. I joined the group last year and was the Italy analyst, coding 200 articles from Italy's three big papers and contributing my findings to a report. I was also chosen as one of the two media unit members to go to the summit in Deauville, France last year. We completed an summit research project by interviewing journalists about how much they were filing, what issues they planned to cover and who they were using as sources.

This year we had a similar research project, which I did interviews for in addition to providing general support for the other division (other divisions would throw me their last-minute outstanding work and I'd meet the deadlines like any good journalist). On my spare time, I blogged about how few journalists showed up in Chicago until the NATO summit kicked off, and how the latter overshadowed the G8. I also filed some posts about the summit's main developments.

A look at the glamorous work we do.
Photo courtesy of Mahdi Hussein

The research group was set up to help bolster U of T's goals to make the Munk School a prominent international relations institute. Students participate to get research experience to further their academic career. The reports are cited by journalists and read by government officials, who often reply with critiques.

I joined the group because I'd chosen U of T because it's a high-profile school that offers undergraduates opportunities to do research in a way that  lot of schools with journalism programs don't. I've learned how to create a research proposal, complete a dataset, deduct findings from said data and review other people's work. I've also gained professional contacts, learned about topics I'd like to cover as a journalist and met some amazing friends.

As a Scarborough campus student, I was able to have last year's summit travel costs paid through the campus' academic travel fund. (I'm applying again for my Chicago trip).

Chicago itself was really cool. I was really impressed by the mix of architecture and the green spaces that complimented all the concrete. We only had a few hours in the afternoon to waltz about, but I really enjoyed it. And I was sure to have a deep-dish before the downtown shut down for the rowdy protests.