Behind the Lens

Allie Miller is currently a reporter for CityNews Calgary, but has experience working as a foreign correspondent during instances like the New Zealand mosque shooting--where footage of the attack required vetting to ensure proper details were given. That level of detail required exposure to user-generated content, which can become a work-related stressor (Feinstein et al. 2014). It reminds you how important it is to tell those stories with tact. Miller's career started at Global News Lethbridge, hired after a week of her practicum in CTV Lethbridge. She says that within the first six months of her time in the city, there were multiple death-related cases including the Derek Saretzky case. "This is real, you know, it's not just telling a story and it reminds you how important it is to tell those stories with tact when you are giving them because it's someone's kid, it's someone's mom, it's someone's dad." Journalism requires knowing the f...

While reporting on its own can require the ability to distinguish when to take a step back or ask for help, not every journalist can tell right away when a scene has affected them. The responsibility to moderate and keep tabs on the mental state of staff falls on the News Director. We interviewed Jeff Little, News Director at CTV Calgary, about his experiences with hardship both personally in the field as a veteran reporter and what he has noticed watching over staff from a managerial perspective. You need to leave town. You can be gone for days, you can be gone for weeks. Little worked for three years as a national reporter as the correspondent for Alberta, South Saskatchewan and South-Eastern British Columbia before moving to the assignment desk at CTV Calgary. He says the biggest challenge was being away from his family. "I had a young family, and when you're in a national posting, there are occasions where you need to hit the road. You need to leave town. Yo...