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From ‘blind photographer’ to award-winning journalist

Cathy Browne's unlikely journey began when she launched her journalism career at age 65 — earning awards that recognize her advocacy for inclusion at CBC Vancouver and beyond

April 3, 2025

Award-winning CBC journalist Cathy Browne began her journalism career at age 65 — just five years ago.

But her connection to the CBC runs much deeper. A self-proclaimed “lifelong CBC Radio fan,” Browne has been tuning in for 60 years, keeping the radio on as much as possible.

“Radio has my soul,” she told Megaphone magazine, sipping a cup of tea in one of 312 Main’s cozy meeting rooms.

In 2019, Browne, who is legally blind, applied for the CBC Abilicrew Placements for Excellence (CAPE) program, a paid three-month work experience for people with disabilities, which has now expanded to six months.

“It was totally accidental,” she said, recalling how she stumbled across a Facebook ad for the program.

At first, she convinced herself they’d never accept someone of retirement age, but her ambitious side thought, ‘What the heck,’ and she threw her name into the hat.

As a hardcore CBC fan, Browne had spent years attending every CBC event she could in the city, including the annual Food Bank Days.

“I’d go at six in the morning and leave at six at night. I’d watch the entire thing, all day long,” she said.

Over time, she even became known as the blind woman with the camera in the front row who never missed a moment. So when Browne was accepted into the program and walked into CBC for the first time, she joked that half the building already knew who she was.

“Which was really kind of strange and weird and nice,” she said.

She began as a researcher for The Early Edition with host Stephen Quinn and was gradually promoted to the team of associate producers — who do everything from pitching stories to booking guests and writing his scripts.

“He’s kind of in my head,” she joked with a co-worker when asked how she managed to capture Quinn’s voice so naturally.

Before joining CBC, Browne spent 30 years in the tech industry, working in public relations. She was used to pitching stories to the nation’s public broadcaster, but now she was on the other side, writing directly for radio. It was an interesting challenge, but one she embraced.

“I think it was to my advantage that I listened to it all the time,” she said.

When Browne’s husband passed away in 2011, her world was turned upside down.

“When he died, it was like, how do you find yourself? How do you rediscover you?” she said.

Photography had always been an interest, but now, she picked up her camera with new purpose.

With only 10 per cent vision in her right eye and none in her left, Browne began photographing events across Vancouver — some paid, but mostly in exchange for perks such as free entry. Before long, her images started appearing across various platforms, earning her the title of Vancouver’s “blind photographer.”

In a photograph of the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, Browne was drawn to a rock formation with a hole in the centre, which was shaped like an eye. In the image, the rock is sharply in focus, while the background fades into a blur of shape and colour.

“And so it became kind of like my explanation of how I see,” she said.

While she can see detail up close, her broader vision is limited.

“Photography makes you more aware of your surroundings,” she added, “and sometimes, you just take a picture because you feel like it.”

Alongside her slower, more thoughtful frames, Browne showcases her sharp wit through candid street photography.

She recalled a moment in Gastown when she spotted a fork lying on the sidewalk. At first, she walked past it — but then she backtracked and snapped a photo. Later, she shared it on Instagram with the caption: “I came across a fork in the road. I didn’t take it.”

Since joining CBC, Browne says she’s been given the freedom to produce everything she’s wanted — and it’s paid off.

In 2021, Browne won a regional Radio Television Digital News Association Award and recognition as a finalist from the Jack Webster Foundation for her series Access Denied, which explored how families with disabilities overcome various obstacles.

Then Browne helped produce and host a documentary inspired by her experience with CBC, exploring what people are doing past age 65. The one-hour documentary, Better Late, won her the Webster Award in 2024. But that wasn’t all — Browne also won the prestigious Bill Good Award, which recognizes journalistic excellence in a specific area. In her case, it was disability and accessibility.

When she was first told that she would be winning the Bill Good Award, Browne said she immediately assumed they had the wrong name.

“It seemed so unattainable,” she said.

The CAPE program set Browne on a trajectory not only to explore disability as her “beat,” but also to give back through mentorship. When Megaphone interviewed her, she was about to start her second week mentoring her fifth CAPE group.

Browne has also been a passionate advocate for promoting accessibility and inclusion within CBC. Her hope is that by influencing the workplace internally, the content produced will reflect those values as well.

“I’m a bit of a loudmouth,” she admits. “But I think it’s an important thing to do.”

And she’s been recognized on yet another front — becoming the recipient of the King Charles III Coronation Medal just a few weeks ago, recognizing those who have made significant contributions to Canada and their home province. The medal is awarded to 30,000 deserving individuals across the country and is the first Canadian honour to mark a coronation.

When Megaphone asked Browne what advice she’d give blossoming creatives, such as members of The Shift peer newsroom, she offered this: “Stay curious, be a little bit fearless, take some chances and don’t be afraid to come up with ideas.”

Some solid advice from someone who truly knows.