Local Newspaper Week: Katie comes home to the Examiner

May 14 2009 Huddersfield Daily Examiner

I’VE only been with the Huddersfield Daily Examiner as a reporter for three months.

This week is Local Newspaper Week – an ideal opportunity to share with you my first weeks in the job.

I initially started working as a junior reporter over the other side of the Pennines in the seaside resort of Southport.

I’m originally from Leeds and didn’t know a soul in Southport – I hadn’t even visited the place – but was eager to get into journalism and start earning a wage as soon as possible.

After about a year there I heard about an opportunity at the Examiner and jumped at the chance to come back to Yorkshire and write for a respected daily paper. And here I am.

Initially, most of the other reporters thought I was from Merseyside because apparently I’ve picked up the accent after just a year in Southport.

These three months have flown by and everyone has been so welcoming that I already feel like part of the team.

They all work really hard to meet all the deadlines to get the newspaper out on time.

I used to work on a weekly newspaper so it has been a bit of a jump getting to grips with writing stories to daily deadlines.

The heads of the departments know Huddersfield like the back of their hands so if I don’t know where something is or who someone is – they most likely do.

I’ve already discovered that there are so many people out there working to improve life in the town whether it be through charity and community work or campaigning – or simply keeping in touch with us and letting us know what’s going on.

Since I started out in journalism just over a year ago, the industry has seen some huge changes and we’ve got to move with the times to succeed – especially in the current economic downturn.

More and more people want their news straightaway as it happens and the modern world is constantly on the move. The internet is becoming increasingly important to us.

Armed with Nokia N96 mobile phones, we’ve been taught to go out and shoot and edit video and load it directly online so you get the news as soon as possible.

We also put breaking news stories on the Examiner website during the day and are getting to grips with writing our own headlines – that’s an entirely different skill in itself.

There’s still a big place for print in the world today and the Examiner is still widely read throughout the area.

It seems that what won’t change is the Examiner’s place in the community and its obligation to act as the eyes and ears of the people of Huddersfield.