A Bison at the Centre of Financial Journalism
At nine years old, Amanda Lang [BES/91] was sure she’d be an architect. She spent hours drawing overhead layouts of buildings, filling the spaces with imagined people and weaving stories about who they were.
It wasn’t until Lang was a student in the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Architecture that she realized architecture wasn’t actually her calling. “I was mediocre,” Lang says.
As it turned out, the stories she most cared about had less to do with the structures she sketched, and more to do with the lives unfolding within them.
Even so, she completed her degree and found the experience deeply formative. “World-renowned” professors led critique sessions where students presented their designs and received thoughtful but unflinching feedback. Lang embraced the process and sharpened skills that would shape her future in journalism—seeing different perspectives, processing complex information and developing the art of storytelling.
While Lang was figuring out her next steps after university, she had an idea for a business story and didn’t hesitate to pitch it.
“Math wasn’t scary, and I can thank my Winnipeg-based Grade 10 math teacher, Mrs. Mary Stapleton, for that. And so I saw a business story and it was the first big story I pitched and wrote for a magazine,” Lang says.
Business reporting, often associated with balance sheets and profit margins, might seem as cold and impersonal as a concrete foundation, but Lang sees it differently.
“The numbers always tell a story, and the story is always about people. So there’s nothing boring about it,” Lang says.
It’s that human connection—uncovering stories hidden in data and making them accessible—that became her passion.
“When you can feel as though you’re contributing to other people’s understanding of things, there’s real joy in that,” Lang says.
She began her career at The Globe and Mail before moving to The Financial Post as its New York correspondent. Her transition to television included helping launch BNN Bloomberg and anchoring at CNN.
“The relationship with your audience is a key component of what we do,” Lang says. “There’s a guy from Lubbock, Texas, who’s been watching me since I was on CNNfn [financial news network] in 1999. And he still emails me and sends me birthday cards.”
On CBC’s The Lang & O’Leary Exchange, she sparred with Kevin O’Leary, of Dragon’s Den and Shark Tank fame, on topics like corporate greed and economic inequality, acting as a measured counterweight to his brash, hyper-capitalist takes.
While her career has taken her to Toronto, New York and London, none of it has ever felt overwhelming or unexpected, despite her Winnipeg roots.
“Winnipeg lives in the world. It thinks big,” Lang says. “It punches above its weight class—artistically, culturally, in business.”
These days, as the best-selling author of two books and the host of Taking Stock, she’s still doing what she does best: breaking down the big, complicated world of business and showing how it affects real people in real ways.
“I used to joke that I would do what I do in a closet with no audience,” Lang says. “Every day I get up, something’s intriguing or annoying, and I get to find the world’s expert on that and figure it out for myself. That’s amazing.”
Point of View // AMANDA LANG ON TRUMP’S PLAYBOOK
Donald Trump’s return to power signals more than just a political shift—it’s a test of institutions, economies and global alliances. Amanda Lang covered Trump’s first presidency, and this time, she sees a leader more prepared to reshape the system in his image.
“The biggest differences…are that he has the House, he has the Senate and he has a clear majority,” Lang says.
That means tougher trade policies, a shake-up of government bureaucracy and a White House stacked with loyalists.
For Canada, the stakes are high. From trade negotiations to defence spending, Lang warns that Trump’s transactional approach will have ripple effects.
“Everything’s a negotiation,” she says. “This is not somebody who is predictable.”
Hear more from Lang during her conversation with UM President Michael Benarroch in the podcast What’s the Big Idea?
At the University of Manitoba, Bisons are at the centre of financial journalism, Canadian football, zero-emission transit and so much more. Wherever there’s a challenge, you’ll find UM alumni leading the charge. Explore the Bisons at the Centre campaign and meet other alumni who—like Amanda Lang—are shaping Manitoba and beyond.