Journalist. Writer. Reporter and Editor at the Canadian Press.
“Words have the ability to change the world.”
Five years ago, Emerald Bensadoun signed a life release, donned a bulletproof vest and openly walked into a war zone. Members of the military who led her from checkpoint to checkpoint in the Middle East were armed with rifles. She held a notebook, recorder and a pen.
When asked why years later, she draws a small pause and replies, “Like most people, I’m fighting for a better world.”
Now she writes for The Canadian Press, and helps produce CBC’s The National, but when she was younger, Emerald said she often felt like an outsider looking in at the world around her.
What makes each one of us an outsider is also what makes each one of us ourselves, or at least that’s what Emerald said she learned when she first began writing.
“I knew that I never fit in very well,” she said. “When you attend Jewish day school and you’re the only atheist in the room, you can feel it.”
Emerald was constantly questioning the world around her, and over time, she said writing became cathartic. Now, she has transformed that feeling into a full time job.
Emerald said the first time she realized she could turn writing into a career was during a conflict and ethical journalism internship, where she acted as a war correspondent in the Middle East during the Gaza War in 2014.
“I knew it from the second I willingly walked into the war zone that I was willing to die for my career,” she said.
Now that she is back on stable ground, Emerald’s passion for reporting has only grown. Her goal? To make a lasting difference.
“I’m motivated just from knowing that the small and seemingly insignificant things I am doing today are going to have a large impact on the general public once I’m done with the story.”
The desire to fulfill her full potential also drives Emerald forward.
“One of my greatest fears is waking up at 65 and seeing that I’ve done nothing important with my life,” she said.
“You owe it to yourself to become everything you’ve ever dreamed of being. When it comes to what you want to do for the rest of your life, make sure that it scares you.”
With dreams of living an extraordinary life, Emerald hopes to speak with and move as many people as possible through her writing.
Journalism gives Emerald the platform to share her own voice, and she does so to prove that every single voice matters, no matter the platform you choose to express yourself through.
“Words have the ability to change the world. I want to see that, at the very least, I have helped people understand what is going on around them.”
RANDOM RAPID FIRE WITH EMERALD
1. Opportunity: take it or make it
2. Coffee or tea? Neither
3. Raptors or Leafs?
4. Bad habit? Nail Biter
5. Useless talent? Saying the Alphabet backwards, and possessing an arsenal of useless facts!
Emerald Bensadoun is a Toronto-based journalist who grew up in Thornhill, Ontario. She has two Bachelors degrees, first completing an undergraduate degree at Carleton University in Communications, Politics and Film, and then earning a Bachelors of Journalism from Ryerson University. Working as a journalist in the city, Emerald is a reporter and editor at the Canadian Press.
Find out more:
www.emeraldbensadoun.com
Instagram @emeraldbensadoun
Twitter @embensad