Being a country newspaper journalist is the most exciting thing Karolin MacGregor can think of. Starting of working for Tasmania’s largest circulating daily newspaper, The Mercury, she decided quickly that this wasn’t for her. Ever since, she has been working for the Tasmanian Country newspaper in Launceston. I spoke to her for our Universities Working Journalist project.
As a writer for the Tasmanian Country (weekly edition), MacGregor covers all the country news, everything from soil results through to the latest farming products free to the doorsteps of all Tasmanian farmers. Distributing about 15.000 copies state-wide, Karolin MacGregor is a busy bee during the week with only one other full-time journalist working for the newspaper.
She chatted about her passion for country news and her working life to me.
What got you into journalism?
Initially I wasn’t that interested in journalism to be honest. I was going to go to university and study sports science, but I happened to get a job at The Mercury in Hobart working night shifts as a copy messenger. I have also been involved with writing and I loved reading, but journalism wasn’t really on my radar career until I got in to the Mercury and started seeing it up close. That job really gave me a good insight into the whole industry. Working nights, I was involved working with subs so I got to see how the paper worked right from the ground which was a really good basis to start a career in journalism.
Why did you decide on going into print journalism?
I guess because I got the job at The Mercury and the decision was made for me. I did look a little bit of going into television initially but I like the fact that with print journalism you can get more into the story, you’ve got more time and you can convey more in the story than you can in a 20sec news grab as you do in television. Radio is nothing I’d looked at to be honest, but now having been in the industry for a while that would be quite interesting too.
Specialising on country news, is it hard for you to find the stories?
Sometimes yes if it’s a quiet week, but especially now with the internet it’s fantastic. When I first started working we didn’t use the internet as much, but now there’s just so much information out there, you can google any particular subject and there could be a website there which is a potential story. I do have contacts which I ring regularly to keep taps on things and to see what’s happening. Of course we get press releases from the government and other industry bodies so it’s always news coming in, but yes - sometimes it’s difficult to find stories.
Do you think a rural newspaper like the Tasmanian Country will survive longer than a city newspaper?
Possibly, well obviously there is a lot of pressure now on general newspapers because of the online media whereas farmers, they like to sit down at their kitchen table on a Friday and read their paper. That’s just what they like to do. A lot of them are technology savvy though, they have their laptops and things and obviously there is online access. They like the fact that they get the paper every week and I think we have a lot of pretty loyal readers who read it cover to cover every week. We’ve done quite a few surveys over the years and they really do like reading it but I guess time will. It will be interesting to see how it goes.
What do you think the future will hold for this paper?
I think it will have a strong future. I don’t know what format it will be in? We may be completely online in the not too distant future, but I think that fact that we are fairly specialised. There isn’t really another product out there in Tasmania that’s catering for those farmers. I think that will give us a strong future.
What do you think local newspapers can do which others can’t do?
I think when you live in and work in an area you have a much more intimate knowledge of the people who work there and the issues that affect people day to day. I don’t think you can get the same in depth coverage from the mainland as you can from a local perspective. Obviously with electronic news now, we’re getting stories from around the world and we do run some national and international stories in the paper that may be of interest to our readers but the bulk of it is that our content is locally generated and I think that is why it’s so popular. People want to read about what their neighbours, or their friends or people just down the road are up to.
How did you develop your writing skills over the years?
I am much more efficient now. It used to take me a long time to put the information down, go through and sort it all out but now that’s just practise I suppose. Over the years you get faster,
and I find that I am a lot better in actually taking information. I don’t use the tape recorder generally; I use notes because I find that farmers are a bit more comfortable with that. A lot of them are quite conservative so it’s more like having a conversation if I’m just running down notes and they seem to respond well to that. I guess as times gone on, I’ve just got better and better at putting the facts down as they need to be and making it entertaining reading.
Have you ever been in a situation which made you feel uncomfortable?
Everyone does what can be considered controversial stories and when you are looking for a news angle, you can sometimes fly pretty close to the wind. There are things that people don’t want printed that you have to print because it’s the news. I guess with time you get used to that. You’ve got to accept the fact that you can never please everyone. If it’s a controversial story, someone or both sides of the argument are going to be upset about something and that’s just part of the job. You have to accept it and not take it personally. Try not to let it influence on how you write because you’ve got to try and be objective, and write like a person who has no opinion and just puts the facts out there.
What do you think is the key of becoming a journalist?
You have to be really dedicated and know what you want to be successful, just love news and really enjoy people. You’ve got to love talking to people because that is essentially what the job is all about.
Can you give me three tips on becoming a good journalist?
Develop a good network of contacts, enjoy what you do, read lots of news and listen to radio.
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