Being a reporter for a local newspaper is a strange occupation. In essence, it’s exactly the same as being a reporter for a major news organization. I mean the actual processes are the same. You find a story, you interview those involved or closest to the story and then you find a way to present the facts to the public in a factual and if possible, entertaining way. The practicalities of the task are the same. The difference is the stories. Most stories you cover in the local newspaper are boring. If they weren’t, then they wouldn’t be in the local newspaper in the first place, they’d be in the nationals.

At a major newspaper, stories are like planets, they have satellites. Other smaller stories that circulate around the main thread, in the trade we call this ‘soft news’ the finer detail stories that come with a big piece.

For example, when there is some kind of major incident, the hard facts dominate the...

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