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Volume 15, Issue 3, Week of January 23, 2017
Global TV co-host Joelle Tomlinson: always on the fly Joanne Paulson Saskatoon Express n one of the coldest days of the year, Joelle Tomlinson agrees to an interview downtown over a skinny vanilla latte. She suggests taking the photo outside on the Meewasin Valley Trail, where she regularly runs with her dog, Luna. Seems appropriate, and no big deal, she says. She runs in this weather. “Really?” asks this reporter. “Well, I’m in if you are.” Perhaps we’re both a little crazy. Tomlinson knows weather, and not just from experiencing the harsh blade of an icy Saskatoon afternoon. She is Global TV’s local morning co-host, which means she is also the weather-caster. At just 26, Tomlinson has already graduated from Ryerson University with a journalism degree, spent a year at the Saskatoon Express, and moved up the ranks at Global from the Breakfast Buzz girl to her new gig. Her story moves fast, no different from her runs on the trail.
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Early days Born in Saskatoon, she was adopted at birth by Doug and Faye Tomlinson. “They also had another, adopted boy, Stefan. He was half-Jamaican, and I am half-African, so that was a big key factor in the birth mom picking that family. It was great,” said Tomlinson. She grew up in Meadowgreen and attended W.P. Bate School, which was then in some disrepair; but she loved it just the same. “As a kid, you don’t remember the negatives that way. I loved my teachers. I had awesome teachers there. I was really lucky. Then in Grade 5, I got transferred into the AcTel program at Caswell.” Her move into AcTel, which stands for academically talented, sprung from her early teachers noticing her creative side. “It’s funny to look at now, but I (would do) little book reports on the side, and I would hand them in to my father for grading, and then he would hand them to my teacher. My dad graded me on Amelia Earhart when I was in Grade 2. I just loved writing so much, and reading.” Despite loving school, she was also a bit bored; AcTel helped her develop her mind and her skills. “Grade 5 and 6 decided my career path, which is pretty lucky, considering it was that far back and I stuck to it,” she said. “I would write poetry on the desk, and then get in trouble, and have to erase my desk. I was doing graffiti, essentially,” added Tomlinson, with a laugh. Tomlinson then attended Bedford Road, and loved it, too. “It was a good four years. I got involved with BRIT (Bedford Road Invitational Tournament) and sports – I really focused on sports. I was always a hard pusher at academics, though, so I balanced the two out. My love was playing hockey and soccer. And music, as well. So a lot of different things.” “I heard a saying, that you are a reflection of the five people you spend the most time with. I heard it a couple of years ago, and really looked hard at who those five
Joelle Tomlinson spent a year with us at the Express. (Photo by Joanne Paulson)
people were. And they haven’t really changed in the last ism, once news gathering, hosting and writing, are now five years. I think it says something to their character, and mixed with managing social media and constantly conhopefully mine.” tributing to a news website. It’s the age of citizen journalism, as well, which comes into the picture. She learned all Professional Choice about it at Ryerson. As she contemplated her life path, she was a bit torn “I had a class on Twitter,” remembered Tomlinson. “I between law and journalism, but ultimately, she chose the didn’t want to get a Twitter account . . . I thought it was latter. silly. You had to tweet so many times a day, and I thought, “I decided I wanted to go to Ryerson University. My what is this thing? aunt had encouraged that, because she’s lived in Toronto “It shocks me now, because I’m so involved in Twitter and also loved writing and reading. She brought it to my now. I get news tips off Twitter, I get photos off Twitter. attention in Grade 10 and in Grade 10 I decided I was Wow, look how much the world has changed since I left going to Ryerson. I put together my portfolio in Grade 12, university, which was only four years ago.” sent it off and thankfully I got in. Six months before graduating with her bachelor of “So at 17, I was living in Toronto. I couldn’t even rent journalism, Tomlinson – who had interned at Global TV a movie.” the second summer at Ryerson — was seeking jobs, and She was also on the cusp of big changes in journalism, saw a posting come up in her hometown. and therefore, journalism education. Prior to Tomlinson’s “I called Cam Hutchinson at the Saskatoon Express. year, Ryerson would stream students into specific areas: I was walking home from class; my walk every day was broadcast, writing, magazine or radio. about 45 minutes there, and back. During my walk I did “I was the very first year at Ryerson where they said, the interview on my phone, and I was ducking in and out you have to learn all, because the industry is changing. You of stores because it was cold out. I’d pretend to peruse the have to do whatever the job is. Jobs are more lean now, so store but really I was doing an interview. I could tell the you need to say, ‘hey, I can shoot, edit, write and report.’” store owners were watching me thinking, ‘this girl’s not Her degree focused on broadcast, and she also took a here to shop.’” minor in sociology. But the technical aspects of journal(Continued on page 7)