He was 15 years old when he published his first print feature, and from there the world was his playground.
Professor Chris Arsenault's journey as a journalist began as a paperboy, but he would soon find himself reporting from places like Rome, Brazil and Mali. And now, his latest adventure brought him to Western, where he took on the role of chair of the master of media in journalism and communication (MMJC) program, with one year now under his belt.
Western's Chris Arsenault has received the Michener-L. Richard O'Hagan Fellowship for Journalism Education. (Christopher Kindratsky/Western Communications)
An international investigative journalist, Arsenault has numerous accomplishments to his name, but when asked about that first feature, he gives a wry smile before offering some critical perspective, as most journalists would.
"It's kind of ridiculous when I look back and think about it," said Arsenault. "It was on a work exchange I did in Cuba, which was a bit of a propaganda tour, to be totally honest."
Ridiculous or not, that first feature was an indicator of what was to come for the eager teen: a career made on globetrotting and investigating important and sometimes dangerous stories.
But don't get the imagery confused - investigative journalism is not the intense, theatrical reality presented in television and film, Arsenault says. It's mostly a grind filled with research and perseverance, but he maintains it is crucial for changing bad policies, highlighting good ones and exposing wrongdoing.
It's this experience Arsenault hopes to instill in his students with the award-winning project How They Did It.
The truth of investigating
Arsenault and Josette Lafleur, a multimedia journalist with CBC Kitchener-Waterloo, were recently named recipients of the 2025 Michener-L. Richard O'Hagan Fellowship for Journalism Education for their project aimed at teaching journalism students the art of investigative journalism.
The country's premier journalism awards, the Michener Awards honour and promote excellence in Canadian public service journalism.
"The Governor General gives the award, so it's a major honour and an amazing recognition for the work we are doing here at Western," said Arsenault.
How They Did It is a multimedia project giving aspiring journalists a behind-the-scenes look at how investigative reporting truly works.
Through podcasts and videos - and eventually a book - it showcases how top Canadian journalists come up with story ideas, gather and confirm information, earn trust and handle legal and ethical hurdles to produce powerful, high-impact stories.
"This is hardly the first attempt to teach investigative journalism, students really want to learn it. But when it comes to a lot of the actual work, like managing Excel sheets with massive data sets or waiting two years for freedom of information requests, there's sometimes less excitement," said Arsenault.
Therefore, his goal is to give his students a true sense of the minutiae of investigative reporting and clarify some misconceptions around the work.
"Investigative journalism is sexy, but I think there's an almost daunting level of How do I really get started? Where do I begin?' and that's what I'm hoping to break down."
From backpacks to the classroom
Arsenault can rely on his own experience to help his students understand the work of investigative journalism.
He credits his mom, a newspaper reporter in Halifax, as being the first influence on his life path.
"I grew up in a household where we listened to the news, talked about the news and talked about current affairs." - MMJC chair Chris Arsenault
He knew early on he wanted to do international coverage, and he would do anything to make it work.
Starting off as a freelancer, Arsenault produced stories for the CBC and the Halifax Herald. He would often wait tables or work construction just to save enough money to finance assignments in Mexico or Colombia.
He completed a master's degree in history at the University of British Columbia before landing a job with Al Jazeera.
"I found myself on a plane to Qatar and I did more than four years based out of the capital, Doha, but essentially I was living out of a backpack for a lot of that period," said Arsenault.
He looks back fondly on his time as a full-time reporter, recalling some of the stories of which he's most proud, such as breaking the news in 2015 that ISIS had been stealing aid from United Nations agencies, a scandal that had been hidden from the public.
He felt the broader public needed to be aware of what was happening to their money and efforts.
"They didn't publicize it until they got caught," said Arsenault. "I was able to break that story and hold these agencies to the standards multi-billion-dollar agencies should be held to."
That's just one example from a long resume of stories, including investigating land deals between Libya and Mali that worsened starvation in Mali, or stories on how the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro impacted urban land rights.
Ultimately, after a storied career around the world, Arsenault began to feel a new chapter was coming, one in which he could pass on his experience and knowledge to a new set of journalists eager to impact their communities.
After serving as a visiting fellow at Wolfson College, Cambridge, he completed his PhD at Sunderland University in the U.K. Now serving as chair of the MMJC program, Arsenault says his newest role is a challenge in its own unique way, but one he is excited to tackle.
"It still feels like I'm a bit of an imposter being a chair of one of Canada's most storied graduate journalism programs. It's humbling, amazing, a huge honour," said Arsenault.
And with that honour comes responsibility to his students, which led to his award-winning approach to education.
"I love getting to work with the students and see how they create their stories," said Arsenault. "I think having a strong, high-powered graduate program like ours is utterly crucial for public discourse and broader democracy."
Arsenault received the Michener-L. Richard O'Hagan Fellowship for Journalism Education at the annual Michener Awards ceremony at Rideau Hall on June 5, 2025, hosted by Her Excellency Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada.
