Chris Hogg
鈥�05 started his career as a freelancer in 2003 at the , becoming CEO and Executive Editor in 2005
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
--
Why did you choose to study journalism?
I joked that I landed in journalism because I was bad at math and was looking for a way to tell stories. I loved telling stories. My dad had suggested, 鈥淲hy don't you try journalism?鈥� and at the time, I really didn't know much about it other than it sounded interesting.
When I started looking, I was actually going to go to Carleton for journalism, [but] being a Torontonian, I wanted to stay at home. So, I applied to the Journalism program at 果酱视频 and got in. I was just drawn to the idea of helping to tell people's stories.
How did your time at 果酱视频 influence the way you think about storytelling and media today?
Oh, absolutely fundamental. The experience at 果酱视频 was world-class. The professors, the experience, the programming, the opportunity for practical hands-on were really good. It was learning journalism by doing right from the very beginning, and that was pretty meaningful for me, so nothing but good things to say about 果酱视频 and the experience.
When you get into the real world, you learn how many 果酱视频 grads there are who went into journalism and how many of them want to help other people who went [through the Journalism program]. Every professor took the time to point me in a direction that would be meaningful based on what I was looking to do, and challenge me on my own assumptions about what I thought I wanted to do and experience.
When you think back to yourself as a student, what kind of journalist did you imagine becoming?
I was at 果酱视频 in the days when the streams were split, so you had to pick a path, whether it was magazine, newspaper, or broadcast. I went down the broadcast route. I didn't end up there in my career, but I thought I was going into the world of TV. I wanted to be a producer. I did some work in investigative journalism as an intern, and then I ended up in front of the camera doing a ton of on-air tech reporting. Quite young, still in school, I intended to go down the path of working for one of the major broadcasters in Canada.
How did that vision compare to where you are now in your career?
Where I am now with Digital Journal started 23 years ago or so. I started while I was still in school as a part-time job. The publication was really, really small at the time. My goal was to just pay my way through Journalism school, but I ended up falling in love with this small little company with a few people who wanted to try and build something big, and I was given an opportunity to lead.
It was something that I didn't know I would enjoy. Learning the path that I went down, being entrepreneurial, is way different than working at another larger institution. I had to learn not just the craft of journalism and try to create content that would resonate and be interesting, but also like the business side, the people side, the growth side. I fell in love with the idea of building and creating something and trying to put together a product that was differentiated and unique in Canada.
Can you walk us through your journey from freelancer to CEO at Digital Journal?
It was one part ambition and drive and one part dumb luck to get where I ended up. I started as a freelancer at Digital Journal. It was a very small team, so I really quickly became hands-on managing content, functioning like a managing editor.
At the time, we chose to focus on Canadian tech. It was still very new. The world of social [media] was very new. There was a lot that was not understood by most people unless you were a tech geek, which I was. So, just out of passion, I fell in love with the idea of learning how technology would reshape everything we do, both journalism and the broader world.
The publisher, his name is Janusz Uiberall. He's the guy who started Digital Journal. This is where the luck part comes in: he recognized that I had a borderline obsession with tech and was going to really invest in understanding how it works and the impact that it would have. He actually stepped down as editor-in-chief and put me in the role.
He became a mentor, and he gave me the opportunity to build a career in journalism that very few people get, running a publication that has become big. I took it as a badge of honour and great pride, but I also took it really seriously.
Is there a project or milestone that stands out as especially impactful for you?
The first days of what was then called citizen journalism will be stuff that I'll never forget. We rebuilt Digital Journal behind the scenes to be able to function like a modern newsroom. We changed our business model so that we would be taking a portion of revenue and contributing it back to freelancers.
At our peak, we had 2,600 freelance journalists writing for us, a scale which was wild. It was something that, as the world of digital was taking shape, multiple people wanted to take part in. That was probably the most memorable period of, and it was early on. That would have been from 2006 to about 2012.
What advice would you give to current journalism students who want to follow in your footsteps?
It鈥檚 not for the faint of heart, I would say. It鈥檚 tough, it鈥檚 really tough. The entrepreneurial journey, even outside of media, doesn't get any harder than trying to grow your own company. Then you add media on top of that, and the business model is super challenging.
I would say whether you go the entrepreneurial route or you join something that's fledgling or startup or new, fall back on what you learn in school, like the who, what, where, when, why and how. If you understand those things, asking questions has become a superpower.
I'm in rooms where people didn't have 果酱视频 training, and sometimes with super senior executives, sometimes with people who don't come from a journalistic world. The thing I get told the most is, 鈥淵ou sure ask a lot of questions,鈥� and it allows me to learn through osmosis.
Falling back on those skills you learned and learning through other people's experiences will give you a head start that most people don't have. There are lots of pathways; the things you learn in journalism are relevant in corporate communications, PR, marketing, business growth and entrepreneurship.