#Trudeau just had 'bigger rocks thrown at him' by #NeetuGarcha during a TV interview ..
“Neetu Garcha (Nee-thoo G-uhr-cha) is the authentic Punjabi pronunciation that my parents gave me,” she says..
Born and raised in Okanagan, she recently won the Broadcast Performer of Tomorrow award given by BC Association of Broadcasters. This award is given to someone who is relatively early in their broadcasting career but shows exceptional promise...She began her career in 2010 as a radio broadcaster.
Troubled by the refugee crisis around the world, one day Neetu decided to travel to Europe on her own with a camera in hand and curiosity in her heart to hear the refugee stories. She investigated how these refugees were getting to the shores of, for example, Greece, what their stories were and what would happen once they arrived in Europe. How were locals handling this influx?
Although I’ve been interested in and fascinated by current events since an early age, I definitely didn’t know I wanted to be a reporter until I was well into my teenage years. I had considered various career options of becoming a nurse, elementary school teacher or even a commercial pilot but didn’t really act on any of these, they were merely answers I gave when asked: “what do you want to do when you grow up?”
But by my final year in high school, I really delved into my passion for volunteerism and giving back to the community, including being the youth voice on a city development committee, sitting on the board of directors of a local non-profit and organizing events to raise money for charities I believed in. That passion led me to a role as an ambassador for Penticton where I honed my public speaking skills.
Already a news nut with a deep desire to make a difference and a new-found interest in the field of broadcasting, I set my eyes on a career in journalism.
I believe in journalism’s power to do good. I believe that the struggles, scandals and stories of people from all walks of life need to be researched and reported. I love being in a role that provides access to decision-makers and powerful people to ask questions on behalf of the public and having a powerful, reliable, respected platform to reach a large audience. I wanted to write, tell stories and make a difference.
When I realized I knew what I wanted to do, I made a plan. I researched journalism programs across the country and zeroed in on BCIT’s program. But I didn’t want to venture off into “life” without a university degree, so I first obtained a management degree from UBC Okanagan in Kelowna. During my university years, I hosted radio shows, did news reporting and also got involved with the university’s campus television station and became their first employed host and producer. After graduating from UBC, I started the broadcast and online journalism program at BCIT and worked as news editor for the campus newspaper. I also interned at CTV Vancouver, which gave me a good idea of how a large market newsroom operates.
It all began with babies. Women who went on maternity leave paved the way for my TV career, which launched when I covered two back-to-back contracts at Global Okanagan. I eventually became the first Global Okanagan employee to fill-in anchor on BC1, our province’s 24-hour news channel, and was also asked to co-host the annual Variety Show of Hearts telethon. That’s when I connected with my current boss, Global BC/BC1 news director and station manager, Jill Krop, who later hired me.
I first worked a year in Victoria – you guessed it – covering another maternity leave, as Global BC’s Vancouver Island correspondent in 2017. That year, I was given some big opportunities that I think really helped launch me into my role now as an anchor and reporter at Global BC in Burnaby.
It was also hard for me to adjust to focusing on just one story for the evening news cast and not reporting on it live as soon as I got the facts, as we often did in radio where we had newscasts at the top and bottom of every hour and would often go on live with the talk show hosts to speak about the stories of the day. I also remember having to change my writing style because in radio, you often want to describe what you’re seeing, where as in TV-land you often let the pictuures do the talking.
I believe my first story to go to air was while I was an intern at CFJC TV in Kamlo8thops. If I’m remembering correctly, it was an adorable piece about a corn maze for children. There were plenty of sound-ups and great visuals to work with. It was a story that almost wrote itself, but of course I was nervous to see my first piece go to air!
The first story that went to air that I had pitched was after an Indian-American woman was crowned Miss America, a herd of people spoke out on social media outraged because of the colour of her skin. We spoke to representatives from the Miss Kamloops pageant, to see if they had seen that sort of discrimination locally.
0 Comments