McAleer, who is from Beragh, Co. Tyrone, Northern Ireland and who is a former student of the National Council for the Training of Journalists course at the Belfast Institute of Further and Higher Education, began his journalism career by accepting a position at the "Crossmaglen Examiner" a local Northern Ireland newspaper in Co. Armagh, an area where the IRA operated. McAleer then moved to Northern Ireland's largest-selling daily, the "Irish News," in Belfast. There he covered the Northern Ireland troubles and peace process, before becoming night editor. From 1998 to 2000, he worked for the UK's "Sunday Times" in its Dublin office. From 2000 to 2003 he was the Romania/Bulgaria Correspondent for the "Financial Times", and he also covered those countries for "The Economist". It was this position that ultimately led him to filming documentaries.