Hey.

This is my personal website and grumbling dumping ground. I’m a Vancouver-based journalist who works for CBC Vancouver. I also tweet at @j_mcelroy.

This website exists because Journalism Thought Leaders (TM) say that young journalists should have their own postal code on the internet. More than that, it’s a motivation for me to write for pleasure on subjects that interest and amuse me outside of local news. Most journalists in their 20s keep up a blog as they freelance around, hoping that if potential bosses Google their name, they’ll see a dedicated and thoughtful person who desperately wants to be employed. Then they get a regular paycheque, and the blog’s output dissipates. But I’m trying the opposite approach, because…well…

…

If you’re interested in my background, I grew up in Victoria, B.C. and went to school at the University of British Columbia. There, I learned how to be a journalist at The Ubyssey, the campus paper. It’s been the training ground of amazing Canadian journalists for decades, and I was fortunate enough to learn the craft alongside some great people, winning a few national awards along the way. At the same time, I did work for NBC during the 2010 Olympics, The Vancouver Sun, The Tyee, and Maclean’s On Campus.

After graduating, I worked for The Province newspaper for six months, writing multiple stories a day and falling in love with the daily grind of local news. After that, I decided that the TV news business (and not worrying about the next round of inevitable buyouts) would be an interesting challenge. I worked for Global BC from 2012 to 2016, and then decided to take the jump to the CBC, Canada’s public broadcaster.

Mostly, I’ll use this site to talk about things that interest me which have nothing to do with the news cycle. Once in a while, I may do that thing where journalists talk about journalism, but mostly I’ll bore you in different ways. Like ranting about awful Disney movies from the 1970s.

Now shoo. Seriously, you have better things to do than stare at the digital representation of my narcissism for any longer than this.

*Pleasant photo above courtesy Gerald Deo

Categories: HousekeepingTags: Housekeeping, Self-referential, Thoughts