Being on a red carpet is always a bit frenetic, especially at TIFF. Cameras are snapping, flashes are flying and handlers are ushering the VIPs in and out of the “step and repeat” faster than a Wyoming cattle call.
So what do you ask when you have less than 30 seconds? The default is to always talk about the dress. Though she looked stunning, it seemed like an insulting question to ask Anne-Marie Mediwake, one of our country’s top journalists.
I went for default #2 and asked if she had any advice for young women who want to go into journalism?
“Yes, work hard, take every opportunity you can and work your butt off. Know that it’s what you want to do and find a mentor.”
How did you start?
“I went to school, and I started working as part of an internship programme. Then they offered me a job, so I was working. Like I said every time I got an opportunity, and I was lucky I got some great ones, I just worked liked mad. I asked lots of questions, and sort of had a goal in mind of where I wanted to go. This was sort of different from that goal but…”
She smiles with award winning wattage, before taking a thoughtful moment.
“I make a point of telling people this: what’s great about being a university student is you can email anyone and they’ll answer. You can send me an email and or send Lisa LaFlemme and email and say “do you have any advice for me?” and they’ll be more than willing to give you an answer. So try and get all the information you can because at some point you’re going to become the competition and they’re not going to want to answer anymore.”
With that, we both laugh and I thank her as she gets moved on and the next VIP gets ushered in.