For the past year, I’ve been living a double life: as a reporter and a student.
I began a master’s degree at the University of King’s College in Halifax last summer. Because most of the program is remote, I was able to continue reporting the news for Coast Reporter, but on a part-time basis. Since then, I’ve written nearly 40,000 words for my master’s program and approaching 200 stories for the newspaper. If that sounds like a lot, it has been!
It took me a while to realize it’s time for me to step back from reporting, at least for now. Local news is crucial, yet layoffs in the media industry across the country are already in the thousands since the start of 2024. This increases the number of stories that go under reported, or not reported at all. At Coast Reporter, we are dedicated to sharing stories big and small about the people and events that affect and create a community.
There are a few lessons I’ve learned since I got my first newspaper job in 2017. Reporting news is like always being buckled into the rollercoaster of life: it’s a whirlwind of highs and lows. In most stories, you can find at least some positivity. Sometimes that silver lining is just helping inform the community by identifying problems and gaps so that people can step up to help — after all, you can’t fix what you don’t know is broken. Some days the silver lining is easy to find, others it’s a mere sliver. On those days, I like to find solace in the hearty arts and community sections in the newspaper — there truly is always something good happening.
So this is to say thank you to everyone who has shared their stories with me and Coast Reporter readers. For the past three-plus years, it’s been an honour to help in whatever way I can. I look forward to continuing to flip through the pages of Coast Reporter — I’ll still be on the Coast. Like many people who’ve found their way here by luck, chance or circumstance, I’m not in any hurry to leave.
