You may have noticed a new byline in The Telegram this week. After serving in high profile reporting positions with the national CBC network, Peter Walsh (right, CBC photo) is back in hometown St. John’s and working at The Telly.Walsh graduated in 1994 from the one-year journalism program at University of King’s College in Halifax. He worked at CBC Here & Now, where he distinguished himself as a strong investigative journalist and a champion for ripped off consumers. After five years, Walsh landed a job with the national CBC on its investigative program Disclosure, working out of Winnipeg. When that program was cancelled in 2003, Walsh moved to the CBC Sunday program in Toronto, working with Evan Solomon and Carole MacNeil.
So what draws him from the glam world of national TV back to the grind of a St. John’s daily?
“Well, it’s professional and personal,” Walsh said in an interview. “I care more about Newfoundland stories than I do about national stories and I really want to be in the province with my family. I’m married and have a nine-year-old stepson. It was just a great job opportunity to tell Newfoundland stories, to have an opportunity to do investigative Newfoundland stories, and also to live a great lifestyle with my family in Newfoundland.”
I asked Walsh what sort of job description he has.
“I am a beat reporter, with the goal of breaking as many stories as I can. My personal goal is to use my training and experience as an investigative reporter to do that. That can't happen every day and I will also cover daily news, but I think The Telegram is committed to setting the news agenda, not following it, and is the best media platform in the province right now for enterprising and investigative reporting, an area which I think is suffering generally in Canada right now.”
Walsh said that Toronto is “a great city and I enjoyed working there, but the cost of living is high and it’s a little overcrowded for my liking. My wife and I, we just decided that we’d rather be here.”
2 comments:
Here's a question: How many reporters does the Telegram have right now? Because unless there's been a massive turnover in staff, it certainly sounds like a lot of reporters have joined the staff lately. Peter and Steve Bartlett. I believe Paul Banks from the Gander Beacon has joined, or will be. I think there are others, but I can't recall.
Just saying, if the Telly is adding reporters and producing more local coverage, that's worth noting, and a good thing.
Any word on where Ronalda will be working? She was working as assignment producer for CBC Radio in Toronto.
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