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Karyn Pugliese is an award-winning Canadian broadcast journalist and communications specialist, of Algonquin and Italian descent. She is member of the Algonquins of Pikwàkanagàn First Nation in Ontario.
Contents
- Early life
- Aboriginal Peoples Television Network APTN
- 360 Vision Vision TV
- Assembly of First Nations
- ichannel and FAQMP
- References
Pugliese is best known for her work as a journalist/Executive Director of news and current affairs at the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, and as the host of ichannel’s #FAQMP. However, she also worked briefly at CBC, Vision TV and as a Communications Director for the Assembly of First Nations. Pugliese sits on the Canadian Association of Journalists Ethics Committee. Pugliese has acted as a co-chair for the Night for Rights Gala, an event which raises approximately $140,000 annually for rights-based journalism programming, and is organized by Journalist for Human Rights, JHR. Pugliese is an ambassador for Journalist for Human Rights, and works with them to train young indigenous journalists. She frequently speaks in support of the organization.
Early life
Pugliese was born and raised in Ottawa Ontario, but frequently visited Pikwàkanagàn in her youth. Most of her close family lived off-reserve in Ottawa.
Pugliese dropped out of high school three times, eventually enrolling in an alternative high school where she earned her diploma. Although she was a bright student, Pugliese had no intention of attending university, and wanted to be a bartender, until a high school teacher coaxed her into applying to Carleton University's journalism program. She enrolled and graduated with a combined honours in Journalism and History in 1998.
After graduating Pugliese worked short-term contracts at CBC Radio Ottawa’s Morning Show, Sounds Like Canada and CTV television, Ottawa. As a single mother of a young child, Pugliese found it difficult to balance motherhood with the instability of a journalism career. For a time she left journalism and worked as a technical writer in the federal government. Around this time she returned to Carleton University to complete an M.A. in History. Her thesis 'So, where are you from?' Glimpsing the history of Ottawa-Gatineau's urban Indian communities is a history of the off-reserve community she grew up in.
Pugliese returned to journalism in 2000, after a professor put her in touch with the APTN. Pugliese became the APTN’s first Parliamentary Correspondent. She credits the APTN’s daycare policy and flexible hours for her ability to re-enter journalism and build a career.
Her son Zackery Liberty is now an adult and a guitarist with the indie rock group Farewell Davidson.
Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN)
In 2000 Pugliese heard from a professor that the APTN was about to launch a weekly news magazine show called InVision. It was later rebranded into the nightly APTN National News. From 2000-2006 Pugliese was a member of the Press Gallery and APTN’s Parliamentary Reporter. She also travelled to many Indigenous communities, mostly in Ontario, Quebec and Nunavut. During her time at APTN Pugliese won 3 Native American Journalism Awards and was nominated for a Canadian Association of Broadcasters Gold Ribbon Award. Pugliese left APTN in 2006.
360 Vision, Vision TV
In 2006, Pugliese joined Vision TV's investigative and current affairs show 360 Vision then led by Sadia Zaman and John Scully. That year the series was a nominee for Best News and Information Series at the 2006 Gemini Awards. Pugliese left after one season.
Assembly of First Nations
Pugliese joined the Assembly of First Nations as a communications officer in 2007. In this role she also worked with the World Health Organization, and the United Nations. A year later she was promoted to Communications Director. She left the AFN in 2010.
ichannel and #FAQMP
In 2010 Pugliese returned to journalism, hosting and producing @issue, ichannel's current affairs talk show. In 2011 Pugliese hosted and produced a new flagship program #FAQMP (Frequently Asked Questions for your Member of Parliament). The show was described as an experiment in democracy, and with its hyper-local focus it was favourably compared to a modern twist on Geoff Scott’s 1968 Show Your Man on the Hill. #FAQMP invited viewers to vote on a website and choose which MP they wanted to appear on the show. Viewers were then invited to submit their own interview questions and topics via social media. Among the MPs who appeared on the show were: Justin Trudeau, Jason Kenney, Dean Del Mastro, Elizabeth May, Bob Rae, Carolyn Bennett, Joy Smith, Pat Martin, and Senator Patrick Brazeau.
Some controversial episodes included: PEI Liberal MP Sean Casey’s admission that he did not support his own party’s 2012 resolution on abortion that would penalize any province that restricted women’s access to abortion (by cutting federal health transfer dollars). Green Party Leader Elizabeth May’s assertion that political parties should be eliminated, and all MPs elected independently also caused a stir. The clip resurfaced and caused debate on reddit in 2014.
The series garnered a nomination for Best Cross-Platform Project, Non-Fiction at the 1st Canadian Screen Awards.
Pugliese left in 2012, returning to APTN. #FAQMP lasted for 1 more season under a new host, Kevin O'Keefe.
Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN)
In 2012, Pugliese returned to the APTN to lead the news department as the Executive Director of News and Current Affairs. Since her arrival, new programming has been added to the News Department including: Nation to Nation, a half hour political show, and the talk shows InFocus and The Laughing Drum. During the 2015 federal election, for the first time, APTN National News secured interviews with 3 out of 4 of the national party leaders.