41. Jill Krop

News Director, Global BC

Age: 52 | First AppearanceWhen Jill Krop, 52, arrived at BCTV in her early thirties, the idea that a woman would run either the newsroom or the station seemed unlikely. Last April, she was placed in charge of both. The most-watched local newscast in the region had slipped in the ratings, so she went to work. She turned beloved anchors back into reporters, where they could break news. She anointed a Chinese-Canadian breakfast show host as co-anchor of the six o’clock news. And she began transforming her daily newsroom into a robust online presence.Today, at BCTV’s current incarnation as Global, Krop orchestrates the daily conversation that takes places in the sweet spot where urban Vancouver turns into the suburbs. “In the golden era of news, you had one middle-aged Caucasian male speaking to an audience that by and large matched him,” she says. “That just doesn’t exist anymore. How do I appeal to an immigrant from South Asia who’s just learning English but interested in understanding where they live? A 40-year-old mother who works all day and has to still cook dinner and barely has time to watch news? And a senior who’s long been a viewer from our BCTV days and lives up north and doesn’t want a thing to change?” Answer: by doing what she did as a reporter almost two decades ago—hold the powerful accountable.

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