Hosting the 6 p.m. newscast on CBC TV Windsor is a dream come true for alumna Meg Roberts (BA 2017), who credits her experiences at the University of Windsor with helping her make her way to the anchor desk.

Roberts, who began filling in for Katerina Georgieva on July 10, says her studies in digital journalism provided practical training.

“My instructors were all people who worked in the industry,” she recalls. “I was getting hands-on experience in the media.”

A class project she produced on ducks dying of malnutrition after being fed bread and other unsuitable foods by visitors to city parks generated interest in local news outlets and led to a summer job at CBC.

“When I started this gig I was so young — still a student,” Roberts says.

After graduating, she worked as a reporter for CBC in St. John’s, Toronto, and covering the 2020 and 2022 Olympic Games. She says she welcomed the chance to return to Windsor.

“To be able to tell stories in a city that has invested in me is really rewarding,” she says.

“CBC Windsor was always on in my house and in my grandparents’ house when I was growing up. As a kid, I thought: that could be me one day.”

She spent her childhood in Gesto, an unincorporated hamlet southwest of the Essex town centre, and calls herself “a small-town kind of girl,” adding that she benefits from familiarity with the community.

“I thrive from working with hyper-local connections,” says Roberts. “Unique stories come my way because I have such a network here.”

She still runs into instructors from her undergraduate days: “I’ll go into a scrum or press conference and see some of my professors there,” and remains grateful for the support she has received in many aspects of her education and career.

“Being able to be a warm face in people’s homes every night — that’s something I will never take for granted.”