Dear North Island Gazette readers, I am pleased to introduce myself as the new reporter/photographer for the North Island Gazette.
My name is Hanna Petersen and I come to Port Hardy from Vancouver. However, my story begins a little further north.
I was born and raised in Prince George B.C., a community of about 80,000 in the central interior of the province, sometimes referred to as B.C.’s Northern Capital.
After graduating high school I stayed in Prince George to continue my education where I studied English and Political Science at the University of Northern British Columbia.
During university, I began volunteering and then working as the news editor for our university newspaper, creatively titled Over The Edge.
This experience inspired me to pursue a career in journalism.
Once I graduated, I packed my bags and flew across the country to Halifax, Nova Scotia where I studied journalism at the University of King’s College.
I felt it was wonderful living in an entirely new place and learning about the Maritimes as I pursued my dream of becoming a journalist.
After an intensive year of learning the ins-and-outs of reporting, I landed an internship at CBC.
There I wrote, interviewed, and produced news and current events pieces for Information Morning, a radio show that is broadcast throughout Nova Scotia.
Fast forward to after two years of living and working in the Maritimes, I felt it was time to come back to British Columbia, so I packed all of my bags up again and flew back to the west coast.
An opportunity arose for me to move to the Lower Mainland, where I began working in the marketing industry in Vancouver.
While this was a very interesting and varied experience, I missed working directly in journalism and craved a change of pace.
I love learning about the news and events that are important and impactful to readers and am very excited and thankful to be reporting again.
I can’t wait to explore and learn everything there is to know about the people and the communities in the North Island.
I have a keen interest in politics, arts and culture, and the environment.
I also love human interest stories about important and notable people in the community.
You can find me covering a wide variety of topics including city council and local events, and of course, writing editorials.
Thank you for your time and I look forward to interacting with you as I begin my journey with the North Island Gazette.