MEET GENÉA GAUDET

Your next multiplatform journalist

A Quick Bit About Me

Hi CBC!

I’m a seasoned, award-winning, non-fiction director and editor with a journalism degree and newspaper/newsroom roots. I currently live in the small town of Joshua Tree, California, U.S.A. – a stunningly beautiful Mojave Desert town of 10,000 people two hours east of Los Angeles, whose economy thrives on the adjacent Joshua Tree National Park.

Once called the “last affordable area of California,” it exploded during the pandemic and the town is dealing with gentrification issues not unfamiliar to many of the small communities in Canada. Housing prices have more than doubled, forcing a community with 25% living below the poverty line into deeper crisis. Being a conservative bastion of California, the migration from liberal Los Angeles has forced a political and cultural clash. At stake is what locals call a “rural way of life” and in the middle of a deeply liberal state, the people of Joshua Tree feel their voices – especially in the broader media – are deeply unheard.

All this to say, CBC: I get it.

I understand the need for journalists in smaller communities and I strongly support – and personally commit to – the mission of amplifying the voices of underrepresented communities.

MY CANADIAN ROOTS

I was born and raised in Winnipeg until my family moved to Abbotsford, B.C. where I graduated from high school. I was accepted into the University of Victoria Creative Writing program and completed one year before finishing my journalism degree in the U.S. After working as a staff writer at a small city, daily newspaper, I got an MFA in Film, raised a daughter and built a documentary and non-fiction film and television career. And now?

It’s time to move back home.

I can’t think of a better move than into a small Canadian community as the new CBC multiplatform reporter.

PORTFOLIO

Feel free to explore my website in general, but I wanted to feature some items that would be specific to the Multiplatform Reporter - Editor position.

ELDER

ELDER (14 mins) has an op-ed focus. It was acquired by The New York Times Op-doc Series in 2015.

Although not the style of video journalism I expect to present for this position at the CBC, this short documentary demonstrates my writing, my technical and creative chops as a director/editor, and my dogged determination as a producer. (This was a crowd-funded project).

I believe it also demonstrates critical thought, how I use character to present social issues, and a commitment to be a voice for underrepresented individuals.

NEWSPAPER REPORTER CLIPS

Once upon a time, I was a daily newspaper reporter for a small, agricultural community.

As staff reporter for The Herald Journal in Logan, Utah, I was assigned the crime beat, but also wrote assignments from the news and features desk. I also freelanced for state newspaper, The Salt Lake Tribune, when they had assignments for the northern Utah region.

These are very old articles. And I wish I could say they are going to bedazzle.

They won't.

But what they will do is show you I know the daily grind of community news reporting.

I hope these clips show my love of the inverted pyramid, my affinity for small community characters, and how I can make sure small-town voices chime in on national affairs.

I WRITE CREATIVE NON-FICTION.

DAVID is a more recent creative non-fiction piece that was accepted by a digital publication on Medium. It’s also set in Victoria, B.C. :)

I hope this sample demonstrates my passion for writing non-fiction and my talent therein. I don’t have the on-camera, broadcast experience that would be ideal for this position, but I have made a career of telling non-fiction stories because I love it. I’m always seeking to learn and grow in my work and I plan to excel in any position I take on next.

Note: I write for Medium under a pseudonym.

SECOND TO NONE

SECOND TO NONE (10 mins) is a short documentary I pitched at concept about two sister who vie for the same Olympic slot in the pentathalon. It was featured with other short Olympic pieces on an ESPN 30-min segment.

This piece shows my field work – including some of the camera work. I directed and edited, as well. The subject tells the narrative, which I wrote and had her record.

How my experience fits with the job responsibilities.

I have successfully pitched and published stories in digital media and as a newspaper reporter – some award-winning – that amplified underrepresented voices. Elder (The New York Times) was produced before ANY federal marriage freedom existed in the U.S. In fact, the day after it was published, U.S. President Obama announced the Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage. The New York Times has a rigorous fact-checking process and the film passed without hesitation, which I attribute to my journalism background.
As a community newspaper reporter and editor, I was required to make connections in the community and encouraged to seek the perspective of a range of individuals. I physically went into the police department daily and had the prosecuting attorney on speed dial. I attended community meetings where town issues were discussed. In this way, I was able to identify the burning issues of the area and interface with decision-makes in person.
I have worked in several capacities as a “one-woman” band – performing the roles of producer/director, shooter and editor, demonstrating my capacity to independently gather video for broadcast.
As a former newspaper reporter and editor, I have experience with breaking news. I see it as a responsibility to the community and the profession for a reporter to always be on.
The CBC is the leader of Canada’s news media. It features the best and brightest Canada has to offer. It follows that the reportage coming off my beat is exclusive and enterprising in addition to being engaging, well-researched and well-presented.
Having daily newspaper experience, I know the pressure of a newsroom combined with the absolute necessity for accuracy and depth.
Beyond the newsroom, as a documentary director and editor, I am constantly having to distill a huge amount of interview and archival material and write it into a tight, coherent, engaging story. Although not news programmes and certainly a different story structure, documentaries are expected to have the same accuracy and often even more depth than daily news. Additionally, if the show is for a network, those deadlines don’t move. It’s rare that my work has not been produced under a constant looming deadline.
Probably one of the most exciting parts of this particular job posting is the opportunity have the community as a beat. As a freelancer of 15+ years, I’ve had to network and build relationships within (a somewhat vapid) community in order to thrive as a director and editor. I’m excited to go back to my journalism roots and take that skill to a more meaningful level by using it to create relationships with political, business, and social leaders of the community I’ll be posted in.
I have acted as a team player with crew and cast of the productions I’ve been involved with. Although I love working as an independent creator, I look forward to being a spoke of the wheel that brings Canadians the best news coverage in the world.

My experience also fits into the job description.

Demonstrated experience working in a fast-paced daily news environment.

The Herald Journal was a daily newspaper and I worked a daily crime beat. I was at the police station every day. Some days I had multiple stories to file for not only crime but also the news or features desks.

Although not a news environment, my documentary network experience has been extremely fast-paced and deadline-heavy. As a documentary director and editor, I am constantly having to distill a huge amount of interview and archival material and write it into a tight, coherent, engaging story. Although not news programmes and certainly a different story structure, documentaries are expected to have the same accuracy and often even more depth than daily news. Additionally, if the show is for a network, those deadlines don’t move. It’s rare that my work has not been produced under a constant looming deadline.

Ability to generate, pitch and pursue strong, original stories that meet the needs of our audiences.

I have been pitching news and documentary stories for over 20 years. I know the strongest ones are most closely aligned to the issues people encounter in their daily life or ones that challenge deeply-held beliefs. The most successful ones are deeply researched, and ones that have relatable subjects.

CBC’s mission to be Canada’s public broadcaster means enriching the lives and reporting the news of every Canadian. Being a small bureau reporter means many days won’t have an earth-shattering event to report on, but I see being a journalist as a public responsibility to the community in which one is posted. I also believe it’s a responsibility to make time to dig for in-depth reporting and stories that might not be sitting on the surface.

Ability to work independently with superior problem-solving skills.

Being a freelance filmmaker is one of the most challenging professions imaginable. First, there’s the hustle for work. It takes an extraordinary amount of motivation and independent drive to survive in the Los Angeles film and television industry.

(con’t)

Next, I have managed multiple types of productions – documentaries, reality television, and music videos – and one thing they all have in common is you need to constantly problem-solve and pivot. There’s crew or talent or agents to manage. There’s a network to appease. And then you need to ace the creative – getting the shots and information you need in the interviews and locations you’re filming.

I have done this with EXCELLENT results. The season I worked on Sister Wives (2022) had me dealing with an in-fighting cast (they were divorcing), a crew that had worked with the same director for 10 years, hesitant to have a new one in charge, and a network that didn’t know me. I ended up producing the highest-rated season the network had in six years. I am very proud of that.

A proven track record of connecting with local communities.

I would point to my work at The Herald Journal on this. I had to develop relationships with the police department and the prosecuting attorney in order to successfully cover the beat. I also went to town meetings and city council meetings in order to ensure our newspaper was really getting at the heart of what was going on in the community and what was important to them.

Outside of journalism? Every day I’m forced to find ways to connect with my local rural community. Like my neighbors, I live on five acres. If you don’t find the locations (virtually and physically) where the community comes together, you will find yourself extremely isolated. At this point, connecting with community is a way of life for me. Additionally, I believe that being Gen X – and, therefore, not always having had the Internet to rely on – has allowed me to build the skills needed to interface on a very human level.

Superior writing skills across platforms, and experience in gathering, editing and packaging audio and video.

I have produced, directed, shot, and edited video and audio for 20 years. I am EXTREMELY technically proficient and fast.

I am a news writer with more than one state newspaper award. Outside of news writing: I have written documentary voice over. I have structured and written entire documentary films and documentary episodes. While I haven’t been writing in the TV broadcast and podcast formats, I’d like to point out that I’ve been successful in every writing area I’ve endeavored and I plan to exceed expectation in that area as well.

Ability to present stories live on-air, from within the studio and out in the field.

I have a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s degree in film production. I believe my proven hard news writing skills combined with my proven video and audio skills will generate incredible pieces on-air, live pieces in this position. Although I don’t specifically have that style in my portfolio at this time, I have the chops to get it done and I’m happy to do a sample should it be requested.

Knowledge of emerging storytelling formats and willingness to embrace change and new tasks across all CBC platforms.

Two of the most important emerging storytelling platforms are TikTok and YouTube. In fact, they’ve become so popular with young generations that the film and television industry has become concerned about the viability of streaming and network television. I would also argue that Substack is also becoming an increasingly important emerging new platform – especially for op-ed, investigative and intellectual stories.

As media professionals we have seen the financial viability of traditional news platforms come into question and so it’s not if we can adapt, we must.

I love the challenge of finding the best way to work within any format as a multimedia reporter. I’m committed to finding the best way to tell stories on the best platforms available.