Algonquin graduate Jeff Pappone is one of the ten reporters that have been inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame.
Pappone has been in the Motorsport reporting field for over 17 years. He has worked for The Globe and Mail and is currently freelancing as a beat for institutions such as the Montreal Gazette and Inside Track Motorsport News. He has also appeared on television as an expert commentator.
He received his journalism diploma at the college in 1999. Within the two-year program he held the position of Managing Editor for the Algonquin Times, which won the 1999 Ontario Community Newspaper Award for general excellence, and has himself won the OCNA Best Student Writing Award in that same year.
Part of his program required him to take on an editorial position and put together the paper every two weeks.
“To me there’s nothing like diving right in and writing, editing and laying out a newspaper and doing all the art too,” said Pappone. “I believe that Algonquin students emerge much better prepared than most.”
There are some decisions he made during his time at the college that, according to him, helped elevate him to the position he is in today. He made friends with some of his classmates that have gone on to work for major media outlets, which have made it easier for him to do his work
“It helps to have a network of contacts when pitching stories,” said Pappone.
Norris McDonald, who has had the chance of getting to know Pappone, described the nature of his acquaintance.
“He is competitive,” said McDonald. “He tries to get the best angle on a story first.”
It was Pappone’s hard work and expertise in the domain that grabbed Mcdonald’s attention when he met him.
“I was struck by his knowledge of Formula 1,” said Mcdonald. “He works very hard, probably harder than anyone I know – even me.”
The CMHF has decided to grant ten Motorsport journalists with the honour, including Pappone. Previously only Norris Mcdonald, affiliated with the sport for the Toronto Star, held this position.
The induction ceremony was postponed to sometime in 2019 or 2020. It is to be part of a group of annual inductions run by the CMHF, rather than a stand-alone in the Fall.