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Global
TV
“I
always had the desire to be a journalist,” says Neha
Bhupal, “but I never really had a role model at that
time.” When she was doing her undergrad she was geared
towards law. But there came a point when she made a conscious
decision and decided to go with her passion. “I was
always a news junkie, I had that fire and intrinsic passion,”
she says.
Neha
graduated from the University of Toronto and then decided
to go to Centennial College to learn about radio and television.
Neha started off with volunteering for Scarborough Cable
TV and worked for CFMT. The anchoring gave her the opportunity
to put together a demo tape. Neha has been a News Reporter
at Global TV for the last nine years now and has covered
everything under the sun including court and crime.
She
sees her ethnic background as huge plus. “I am actually
at an advantage being a South Asian woman in media in a
multicultural city.” Neha is very proud of her heritage
and represents a role model for the community. “I
get a lot of calls from women seeking inspiration and asking
where they can start.” She also gets asked to do a
lot of emcee work. “Our South Asian people are very
much in the mainstream, in hospitals, in gala panels. We
have the ethnic edge to relate to people,” she says.
Neha
finds bringing core issues in the mainstream level more
challenging. She was avant garde in exploring subjects like
homosexuality and South Asians living with AIDS. “These
were important issues that needed to be explored but people
got upset even though these issues exist,” she says.
Neha
finds that people in the community trust her because of
her name and the ability to speak Punjabi so getting the
story becomes easier from that perspective. She is a strong
believer that objectivity is important in a story. “You
want to inject your own personality but there is an ongoing
balance in reporting which makes a hallmark piece.”
Talking
about the work-life balance she says, “It definitely
becomes challenging when you have a child. As a woman your
priorities change.” But she has accepted that as part
of motherhood. “I have become a better reporter as
a mother.” She also ascribes personal growth to a
stimulating and people oriented career.
Her
advice to upcoming journalists - “Integrity, digging…
sometimes do the core story and dig further. Telling the
story with sensitivity, keep in mind that the story can
be quite scary from the other person’s perspective.
Find the story that nobody else has with good pictures.”
Neha
is an eternal optimist who perceives greater opportunities
for ethnic reporters in niche markets. “If you have
a great idea, then pitch it. The world is your oyster,”
she says. “There are a lot of opportunities, surely
it is competitive but be optimistic and work hard.”
She
thinks that media is far more progressive now. As a woman
in media she sees a lot of equality in today’s day
and age. “Sky is the limit for women,” she says.
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