HALIFAX, April 30, 2012 /CNW/ - Both a symposium on journalism education in Atlantic Canada and the 31^st Atlantic Journalism Awards will be held this Saturday, May 5, at the Delta Fredericton.  Journalists and news managers from throughout the region will discuss the future of journalism education and celebrate journalistic excellence.

The day time Symposium, presented by CNW Group and the AJAs, will feature presentations by 7 journalism schools in the region, and include outlooks by employers and industry professionals about the future skills needed by journalism graduates.  The guest speaker at the symposium lunch is Ivor Shapiro, Chair of the School of Journalism at Ryerson University in Toronto.

During an evening event, the 31^st Atlantic Journalism Awards will celebrate excellence and achievement of over 80 Atlantic Canadian journalist for their 2011 print, radio, television and on-line news reporting. One journalist or news organization will be honoured from each of the 28 categories with the prestigious AJAs Gold Award, while the others will receive silver awards.

The masters of ceremonies for the gala dinner and awards show are Jonna Brewer, host of CBC Information Morning, Moncton and Rob Warner, Editor-in-Chief of Brunswick News in Saint John. The guest speaker will be Ian Hanomansing who grew up in Sackville New Brunswick and is now the national reporter for CBC TV News in Vancouver.

For more information on the Symposium or the AJAs event, go to www.AJAs.ca. For daily AJAs updates, follow the AJAs on Twitter (atlanticJawards) and "like" our Facebook fan page (Atlantic Journalism Awards).