Possible Work

As you may or may not already know, I've just graduated with a journalism degree. Journalism is a strange beast. Jobs are at once plentiful and scarce. If you're willing to take a job in some backwater town, you'll probably find steady work. The turnover rate for jobs like these is huge because people start at small papers and work their way up.

If you have the talent, the drive, and the equipment, there is always a market for freelance stories. Yesterday I got in contact with a Certain Broadcasting Corporation based in Yellowknife. This "Certain Broadcasting Corporation" (I'll call it the "CBC" for short) does radio and TV broadcasting all over Canada. I wanted to let them know that I would be living in Tulita, and that I have the equipment to do radio stories. The woman I spoke with was great. She told me there would almost definitely be some money in her budget for freelance stories, as long as I could find some stories to cover.

Although the subject of work was positive, some of her general comments were not as positive. She was a bit surprised that anyone would choose to live in Tulita, mostly because of the isolation. She did say it was a great town with an interesting culture, as long as we weren't too "stuck up."

"If you're friendly, you'll be fine. But if you don't make friends you'll have a long, lonely winter."

I assured her that Nicole had already been to Tulita, and she loved the town. This person at the CBC was surprised at the price of water, and she warned us that electricity would be expensive. Someone from her office had just flown to Colville Lake to do a story on high electricity costs. People there are paying upwards of $800 a month.

Her best advice?

"Just make sure that girlfriend of yours negotiates a good salary."

To get in touch with the right person at this CBC, I got the name of a King's alumni who is now working in Yellowknife. I sent her an e-mail to thank her. This was her reply:

Hey Brodie, Good for you for getting a hold of [a certain person at the CBC]... We never get stories out of Tulita so I'm sure you could get lots of stuff aired. If you don't mind me asking, what on earth are you moving there for? Have you ever been North before? Let me know if you need anything else, or if you stop in Yellowknife! Good luck.

There was something in the tone of her reply that was ominous. "What on earth are you moving there for? Have you ever been North before?"

She might as well have written, " Are you F---ing crazy?!"