“In Quebec, there are 200,000 English speakers across small communities, so we have to organize ourselves to get into those regions,” says Meredith Dellandrea, senior managing director for CBC News in Quebec and Atlantic Canada.
Dellandrea (right) pictured with fellow alumna Debra Arbec, BA 89, at the Canadian Screen Awards.
Since joining CBC in 2009, Dellandrea has worked as a producer on shows such as Daybreak, All in a Weekend, and Mashup.
She’s particularly proud of The Longevity Puzzle, a documentary by Susan Pinker for CBC Radio’s Ideas, about the lifespans of centenarians in Sardinia, Italy, which she co-produced.
“I learned how it’s about the communities we are part of, and what is called ‘continued social connection’,” Dellandrea recalls.
She has also contributed to other CBC endeavours, including the CBC Literary Prizes/Prix littéraires Radio-Canada, programming at the Blue Metropolis Literary Festival and setting up the digital publishing team at cbc.ca/quebec.
Dellandrea credits Concordia for setting her on the path she continues to follow today.
“After travelling and studying at Dalhousie and McGill, I asked myself what I wanted to do. I knew it was journalism — radio in particular,” she says. “The one-year graduate diploma at Concordia gave me practical skills and the opportunity to explore the big topics affecting journalism.”
Managing a 24/7 newsroom can be intense, so Dellandrea turns to hobbies for some balance. “I knit, sew and I also run and swim,” she says. “Journalism can be stressful, and I always have to be tuned in, so it’s really important to have these outlets to take my mind off work.”
Dellandrea (pictured centre, middle row, in leather jacket) with her classmates in the Graduate Diploma in Journalism program.