So I got promoted last week and am now the permanent editor of the North Island Gazette.
I put in a ton of hours writing articles, learning new computer programs, and going to events all over the North Island to get to where I’m at now, and I’m really proud of the fact that a local North Islander is running the editorial department for your North Island newspaper.
Growing up in Port Hardy, I always wanted to work for the North Island Gazette. I had a job interview with Mark Allen when I was 16, and he basically told me to work on my writing skills.
I took his advice to heart and signed up to take journalism at Port Hardy Secondary School under Norm Prince, who was a very good teacher with a lot of knowledge about the industry.
Prince taught me the foundations of journalism; such as how to write a good lead, the importance of meeting deadlines, and how to leave your own opinion out of news stories.
I owe School District 85 for any success I’ve had professionally in my life.
If it wasn’t for them being able to offer me courses I wanted to take like journalism, I might not have been interested enough in school to graduate, and I definitely wouldn’t have gone on to earn my Bachelor of Arts from Vancouver Island University.
Most likely I’d still be in a warehouse on the mainland driving a forklift, feeling creatively unfulfilled.
With that out of the way, let’s look at some cool facts:
My family has lived in Port Hardy for more than 40 years, and my parents still teach on-call all over the North Island.
At 33, I’m one of the youngest editors on Vancouver Island, and maybe even in all of BC.
It took me slightly over two years to become the permanent editor of a newspaper, with one of those years spent as a reporter.
I started out covering sports, and the first story I ever wrote for the Gazette was on female minor hockey.
When the editor job opened up back in May, I didn’t apply for it. Instead, I worked my butt off for 10 months straight as the acting editor, hired my own reporter and trained her from the ground up, and really put in the effort to get better at my craft until I knew I had earned the position.
My passion for my hometown and the surrounding areas is what drives me to come into work everyday and do what I do.
It’s pretty cool to be officially sitting in the driver’s seat, and I’m excited to continue to bring real North Island news to all of my fellow North Islanders.
Also, my door is always open if you want to stop in and chat. I work Thursday-Monday (I work weekends to make sure the youth get the sports coverage they deserve), 8:30-5:00, my email is editor@northislandgazette.com, and you can reach me by phone at 250-949-6225 ext. 1303.
I’m here to work for you, to represent our communities as best I can, and I won’t stop until all my fingers are bleeding and broken from typing so much.
Hey Mr. Prince, if by any chance you somehow read this, one of your students made it to editor of the Gazette!