RSJ alum take on Parliament Hill
Olivia Stefanovich (RSJ ‘13) and David Thurton (RSJ ‘12) started working on The Hill in February. (Courtesy Peter Bregg)
As one RSJ grad finished up his time as a reporter on The Hill, two are just beginning their journey.
Josh Wingrove (RSJ ‘08), who started reporting on The Hill with the Globe and Mail in 2013 and has been with Bloomberg since 2015, has taken on American politics in Washington as a White House reporter.
He gives advice to Olivia Stefanovich (RSJ ‘13) and David Thurton (RSJ ‘12) who started working on The Hill in February. They took on new roles as national reporters in CBC’s Parliamentary Bureau.
“Any time you're immersing yourself in a new beat, including national politics, it's just a matter of throwing yourself in until you can swim. It can take a while and it’s a steep learning curve, but the opportunity is worth it,” Wingrove said.
“The Hill is constantly moving and evolving at the intersection of policy and power, but also of people, because people are holding all these folks in Ottawa to account. I've always liked that.”
Josh Wingrove takes on Washington as a White House reporter. (Courtesy @josh_wingrove via Twitter)
Wingrove arrived in Ottawa as the scandal surrounding former MP Mike Duffy’s expenses was breaking. Similarly, Stefanovich and Thurton began reporting as the SNC-Lavalin story broke.
Olivia Stefanovich. (Courtesy Jake Goegan)
“It’s been non-stop since. We've seen this with the Mike Duffy scandal, but it's been a while since there’s been political drama like this on The Hill so it’s interesting to be here when one story is dominating the headlines for two months,” Stefanovich said.
She began her career with CBC through her internship at the RSJ and got her start as a reporter in Sudbury and, later, in Saskatchewan.
She says the transition is challenging because she’s used to reporting in smaller markets.
“It’s challenging because I’m not from The Hill. I came from reporting in other regions, but in some ways, I can still use the skills that I acquired outside of here. The transition is still not over, even though I’ve been here for a few months now.”
Despite the challenges, she also says it’s an exciting time.
“It's exciting and you just kind of have to roll with it. And, of course, make sure that everything you're reporting on is accurate and balanced and just, you know, meet as many people as you can and do stories that matter. For us who are new here, it's also about keeping up with a story and finding out what's missing.”
Thurton also started his career with CBC in smaller regions across Canada, such as Fort McMurray, the Maritimes and Canada's Arctic.
“There wasn’t an opportunity for me in Toronto and that pushed me to go out into the regions,” he said. “I can honestly say that those experiences have been life changing, not just at a career level, but also at a personal level.”
His goal is to report in a larger market for a wider audience and Ottawa provides this opportunity.
“It’s a huge jump to go into covering national politics, but I think there is a real need for journalists that have a wide experience of the rest of Canada,” he said.
David Thurton. (Courtesy CBC)
Thurton said his previous experience in small regions prepared him for his current role because he understands the impact stories can have.
“If you're reporting on a small community in the right way, you become a part of that community and you understand the value and impact of your stories,” he said. “So you take that experience on The Hill, and you do the same thing.”
Both Thurton and Stefanovich say the newsroom in Ottawa is team-oriented. Wingrove agrees.
“The Hill is definitely a close-knit community in terms of everyone that works here, media and otherwise. It’s a competitive environment, but it’s also pretty supportive,” he said.
“There’s ample support for young journalists in Ottawa and opportunity to tell stories on different platforms that affect different communities in ways that are rewarding.”
He advises new journalists to Ottawa to take in as much journalism as possible, which is advice that he was given by former RSJ professor David Nayman.
“David encouraged everyone in the class to read, watch and listen to as much journalism as possible. And it seems so obvious. But he was right. And that is a lesson that carries to any job in this field. There's a tonne of it being done by a bunch of different sources. And you just need to immerse yourself in it,” he said.
His final advice is for journalists to step out of their comfort zone.
“It's always good for journalists to try new assignments whether that's new beats, new cities, editing instead of reporting, etc. Often that means trying to get out of Toronto and for me, Ottawa was a city I never lived in before.”
