Oh, where to start? Here I am at Ryerson’s Masters of Journalism program, but how and why did I ended up here?
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My involvement in media has been a consistent passion since I started making fan-'zines about bands and djs at fourteen. Since then I have sought out opportunities to experiment with a wide range of media roles. Academic studies in semiotics and socio-cultural anthropology contributed to my theoretical understanding of the media and its role in cultural production. I have sometimes incorporated insights from these studies into my freelance music journalism by considering issues of globalization, postmodern art forms, new digital technologies, the effects of corporate sponsorship on cultural production and cultural identity politics.

At the time when I applied to Ryerson’s MJ program, my media efforts were untutored and I was hungry to get professional training as the next step in my career. My goal was (and still is) to work in broadcast media (film, tv, radio – you name it!) in the roles of researcher, writer and producer. In the time since I graduated from the University of Toronto, in 2006, I worked in documentary film at Sky Works Charitable Foundation, and I gained experience in the day-to-day processes of a small creative team engaged in alternative media production. I saw firsthand how an emergent film-making process can serve as a catalyst for a community development process.

I am inspired by the work of Naomi Klein. Although she exposes the often destructive aspects of globalization, as in No Logo, she does this in ways that do not overshadow the possibility of human action for constructive change.  Her film, The Take, was an exciting, fast-paced docu-drama – the kind I dream of creating some day.

Areas of Interest: social justice, globalization, techno music, indie rock, youth subcultures, public space struggles, technology, environmentalism, psychology.

Likes:
Magazines: The Walrus, Psychology Today, Toronto Life, Toronto Star.
Radio: CBC – Q, DNTO, The Current, Here and Now.
TV:  The Hour, The Agenda, CBC Newsworld.