Julia Wong joined Global Halifax as a videojournalist in April 2013.

Julia grew up in the suburbs of Toronto but moved to Los Angeles to study Communications at the University of Southern California. She interned at NBC Nightly News, CNN Los Angeles and KCAL/CBS. Julia then moved to Bowling Green, Kentucky to report and produce for WBKO-ABC.

She returned to her Canadian roots and moved back to Toronto where she worked briefly as an editorial assistant for Global’s investigative show, 16:9 The Bigger Picture. Julia then moved out west for the chance to work at Global Okanagan where she covered the Kelowna gangland shooting death of Jonathan Bacon, the Peachland wildfire and a fatal Vernon plane crash.

Julia is excited to live, work and explore the Maritimes. In her spare time, she likes to cook, salsa, sail and trampoline. If you have a story idea or something you believe should be investigated, email Julia at [email protected]

1) Being a one-man band - Knowing how to write, shoot and edit makes you invaluable to a station.

2) Multimedia - Every day I post to the website, Facebook, Tweet and blog in addition to my normal reporting duties. Many stations are still struggling to become technologically savvy, you could be the solution.

3) Finding and pitching stories - Always keep your eyes and ears open to potential story ideas. Ask questions or make calls if you think something is interesting. Then once you find a good story, know how to pitch it. Don’t shrug a story off as “it’s interesting but no one else will be interested”, it’s your job as a journalist to MAKE it interesting.

Assignment Desk, W/S/E, Reporter, Producer

ATVN was my first job in broadcast. I learned how to write, shoot and edit for a live, local newscast. I got hired at my current job mainly because I was a “jack of all trades”

Build your resume - Do as much as you can at ATVN, try any position you might be interested in. Do as many different news internships while you still live in LA and have such plentiful opportunities; internships build valuable contacts.

Know why you want to get into this industry - You have to WANT to find news, break news and tell stories to be able to do it everyday. If you love coming in everyday excited about who you might be able to talk to or what you might be able to learn, chances are you are on the right track.

Work hard - The next hardest thing after landing a job is proving yourself at it. Work 150% every day and it will show and you will earn respect at your station.

Be an active learner - Stay informed and read up on things that you are interested in. If you are knowledgeable on a subject, it will show in your work.

Trust your instinct. Don’t just take any job because it’s a job. Only take it if the station and the news director feels right. Your instincts are never wrong.