Meet a Journalist

A journalist's profile, stories and career in the field of journalism. Know a journalist who should be profiled here? Send an e-mail to Janet E. Bardon

September 16, 1999
Kerry Moore (Ms)
Reporter, The Province
Vancouver, BC

I looked back recently at an aptitude test I took before entering the University of B.C., and saw that "journalist" was high on the list of recommended professions.  Yet it was never intended.  I took play reading and drama courses as well as basic art major courses in university to help me get a job as a radio producer at the C.B.C.

When I left school the C.B.C. wasn't hiring but the local dailies, the Vancouver Sun and the Province, had just ended an eight month strike.  Replacement reporters were being hired from newspapers across the country, but support staff were to be local.

I was hired as a clerical assistant to the Province entertainment editor.  He taught me to edit and the paper asked me to do restaurant reviews on a weekly basis for no money but a free meal.  That was my training.  Three years later I was asked to replace the theatre critic who was quitting thus I put my university education to work as well as my years between high school and university which I spent working backstage in theatre in London, England.

I have now been a reporter for 17 years.  During this time I was also food writer, film critic, music critic, fashion reporter, had an environment column and did feature writing in lifestyles and entertainment.  I am now a consumer writer in the business department.

The change of focus is what I enjoy the most.  The people I interview are the reason to come to work every day.  And if I am a capable interviewer and able to adapt easily from one beat to another, I credit my ten years of working and travelling after high school with building my confidence; I knew from that experience I could handle most situtations.

While I have met and interviewed some personal heroes including Audrey Hepburn, the regular folk are the truly heroic.  My toughest interview was Snow White (yes, an actor but one who would not come out of character so I was kept to questions about Prince Charming and the Seven Dwarfs.)  Patrick Watson was my next toughest interview; he interviews the interviewer about the reason for each question.  The most stupid waste of time was a gang-bang interview with Michael Reagan, son of then U.S. president Ronald Reagan.  He had nothing to say when his aide allowed him to talk and had more para-celebrities hanging off him than a shark has remora.

If people are interested in a career such as mine, I suggest they not think of newspapers alone.  Think much more broadly is my advice.  Definitely go to journalism school - no one is given time to learn on the job any more so chances of wandering in from university is slim. They should consider writing for magazines, should learn broadcast journalism. I also suggest learning the language of a hot spot (China, Israel and the Middle East, Russia) so he or she can travel to the source of stories and move with ease. The more you know and can do the more you are likely to fit in somewhere.

The biggest challenge facing journalists today at least in newspapers is wire stories. A film review from the Chicago Sun Times, for example, can run in any newspaper in North America. The same film is shown everywhere so why not one review by one reporter to cover ten major cities? In many newspapers, wire stories are simply updated or localized. Double bylines reading "Wire and (John Doe)..." are increasingly common. Fewer local reporters are needed and less experience is required. Thus young reporters can be taken on for short term work, and let go when their trial periods are up. Without reporters covering specific beats for long periods, contacts and knowledge are not built up and stories become more superficial. Knowledge builds skepticism and without it, unchallenged (and incorrect) comment may be taken for fact.