Robin Gill Weekend Anchor, Global TV Written by Preeti Thandi

   • Global TV

She sees herself as a storyteller before anything else. Robin Gill knew that she would eventually go into media when she was in high school. However she thought about doing law first. When she considered the number of years it would take to go through law coupled with the fact that there would be many years of paying dues in smaller markets, she decided to go straight to media.

Robin has a degree in International Relations from the University of British Columbia and a diploma in broadcast journalism from BCIT. She started her career as a reporter and an anchor in Saskatchewan and then reported for CBC Vancouver before launching a new station in Calgary where she hosted both the morning show and reported for the evening news.

Talking about stepping into media with an ethnic background she says, “I know some reporters who have problems reporting on stories within their own ethnic communities as they are afraid of a bias. I don't see it that way because I'm a storyteller and I'm here to tell a story first.”

“Being from an ethnic community can help. For example, the other day, we needed to interview a Korean woman but she didn't speak English. One of our reporters is Korean and served as a translator and liaison.”

As a representative of the community, Robin believes that she has a better understanding of the culture, “so that when there is a crisis or story in our community - I hope that I can eliminate some of the stereotypes.”

Robin has worked on many stories highlighting issues. She has covered politics, crime, breaking news and disasters.

“I've been doing this for almost 9 years,” she says. “Some days I forget that I have one of the most interesting jobs and wouldn't trade it for the world. As for a life balance - I work long hours and I'm on different shifts so it's hard to have a personal life.”
Her advice on the world of media - “You have to have a thick skin for this business. People in this business can be very critical.”

Robin thinks there is a lot of ethnic representation in the media and many multicultural channels coming on line. “There are sure to be more jobs in the future.”