For Craig Wilson, it’s all about the little moments.
Wilson, currently a writer for CBS News in New York, spoke to Camosun’s Persuasive Writing for Web class on Monday. He emphasized the importance in recognizing and seizing those moments, and spoke about a few that shaped his life- the first of which happened over twenty years ago when he was handed an article from the class’ instructor Andy Bryce, who was a colleague of Wilson’s when he was working for CHAT TV in Medicine Hat, Alberta.
“That article changed my life,” said Wilson. “And I didn’t know it then. I sort of viewed it as an extra assignment- like, why do I have to know this?”
The real impact of that article would become more tangible for Wilson in time.
He eventually lost the job at CHAT (fired, in fact, by Bryce, who said that Wilson was not taking the job seriously- a moment that Wilson sees as an opportunity), and found work promoting Alberta tourism. While doing this job he met a couple from Europe who was to be married within the week. The groom was a pacifist from Serbia and could not return to Belgrade or he would be drafted into the Balkan war, so the wedding was to be held in Medicine Hat, the home of the bride’s grandparents. Wilson helped them with their wedding arrangements, which led to an invitation to the wedding- where he met his future wife, a friend of the bride, who lived in New York. Wilson sold his possessions and moved to be with her.
Making a fresh start in the Big Apple is no simple task, but Wilson was determined to succeed, and took advantage of another moment to help him get his foot in the door. While working at CHAT, he had the chance to meet former CBC news anchor Knowlton Nash, who had been visiting Medicine Hat from Toronto.
“In those days, television was way more important than it is today,” said Wilson. “He was the man.”
Wilson made a call to the CBC newsroom in Toronto to speak with Nash directly. After mentioning their brief meeting in Medicine Hat (and using some well-placed flattery), Wilson asked only for a name of someone in New York who could help him. Nash directed Wilson to a friend named Jeanette who worked at CBC UN.
Once in New York, Wilson began working with Jeanette, covering the Secretary-General’s press briefings, holding a microphone to the likes of Madeleine Albright, and, on one occasion, sharing an elevator with Bishop Desmond Tutu. Much of his coverage was centred around the explosion of the Balkan war, and his interactions with the young couple in Medicine Hat made their way into the pieces he was writing. Jeanette eventually recommended Wilson to CBS, and he has been working with them ever since.
Wilson’s moments have not stopped there, though.
He says that he was once thrown out of the mayor’s office in Medicine Hat, and his “skin tingles” when he finds himself in an environment such as the White House briefing room.
“I have always appreciated the opportunities I have,” said Wilson.
Even the horrific events of the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center changed the way Wilson writes and views tragedies, since he usually must travel to cover bad news. He went to the World Trade Center site on his bicycle and was on the phone with CBC’s Peter Mansbridge as the second tower fell.
“That was the awakening for me, actually,” said Wilson. “That remnant <of the towers> burned for months underneath… So think of all the chemicals. It created a smell. And that smell came into my home. That was the lesson for me. I get to drop in and leave… I get to eat a hot meal; I get to turn on the tap and clean water comes out. That’s not the case for most places where bad shit happens. So that was a really important reminder.”
And that article given to him by Andy Bryce when he was reporting in Medicine Hat?
It was a piece about broadcast pioneer Edward R. Murrow, a man who shaped the future of radio broadcasting by reporting from the scene. He notably stood on a rooftop to use the sounds of the Blitz in London as a backdrop when speaking to an audience in New York.
“I learned about writing,” said Wilson, referring to the article. “I just thought, to tell a story, you told the facts. But when you’re using a medium of television or radio you have to choose your words differently.”
And Wilson chose his words wisely when speaking with Monday’s class.
“What you do here, today… may seem routine. Great. Life’s about routine. Be aware and watch out for the moments, because they change your life.”
