In a media landscape ravaged by the rise of artificial intelligence, shrinking newsroom budgets, and the proliferation of unverified social media information, it is hard to say how long the average journalist will be able to keep their job. In particular, Bell Media has seen several controversial layoffs in the past couple of years that have brought the staff of news programs to a significantly smaller scale than they previously were.
However, even if one gets laid off, they can continue their career. If you are a journalist, there are still plenty of options open for your voice to be heard; you need to find the right groups of people who will believe in you, and before long, you can find yourself in a new environment that may be preferable to your previous job. This is the career arc that has happened to SiriusXM producer Chloe Grant over the past couple of years.
Having spent her university career in a dual Journalism/Mass Media program at Western University and Fanshawe College, Grant became fascinated with celebrity culture and began seeking a way to combine her love of celebrity with her life experience in musical theatre. She quickly realized she wanted to be an entertainment journalist.
“I always knew that I wanted to entertain in some capacity,” Grant said in a recent interview. “However, I had a grandfather who was a journalist […] so I knew that I could combine my love for, you know, Hollywood and all of those things with my love for storytelling and journalism that I kind of learned through my family members.”
From there, she landed a job at Entertainment Tonight Canada in 2018, where she began as a production intern before eventually working her way up to becoming an associate producer. As former producer Emily Thompson can attest, her distinct flair truly shone here.
“Chloe is one of the best producers I’ve had the honour of working alongside,” said Thompson when contracted for information. “She is creative, dedicated and a great storyteller. She brings a flair to her work that makes her stand out.”
Unfortunately, all good things must end, and in September 2023, production company Corus Entertainment abruptly cancelled ET Canada; the officially cited reason was a “challenging advertising market.” Initially, Grant and the crew were told they were pre-empted. This did not seem to be an issue, as pre-emptions are a very common practice in television; however, Grant and the crew received some devasting news the next day.
“There had been this kind of feeling in the air, having had two previous layoffs and a lot of uncertainty,” said Grant. “I didn’t think that was coming, but the next day we did get a meeting invite. […] We had to log in, and it was all the executives and the entire ET Canada team where they let us know that the show was cancelled.”
Though Grant was upset by this news, she managed to bounce back within the past year by being hired by SiriusXM to produce the radio show The Breakdown, which can be heard on the Canada Talks station. Coincidentally, Grant had been expressing a desire to be a producer rather than an associate producer, as she was on ET Canada.
“It’s really exciting to have a bunch of ideas,” said Grant, “put them together in one, find guests to have on your show, and then see it to start to finish.”
In just six short years, Chloe Grant has gone from the depths of internship on entertainment news programs to running her own show for a national audience on satellite radio. She has witnessed the surge of layoffs across the entertainment industry in the past few years and returned more vital than ever. Grant’s story reminds all up-and-coming journalists not to let the uncertainty currently facing the industry get them down and take any opportunity that comes their way.
“You have to push yourself to rise from the challenge and say yes,” said Grant. “Spend your time […] saying yes to any opportunity that comes by – within reason.”