Editors note 13 February

Hi Everyone,

Sometimes you hear a story that completely changes the way you see something. That happened for me this week.

On Friday, our new journo, Suzanna, and I headed to Cannonvale Beach to meet a local skipper by the name of Kev. Thanks to a friend, this usually media-wary man was willing to talk to us, but with one condition: the story of his boat, shipwrecked on Pigeon Island during Cyclone Koji, had to be told in a positive way.

Instantly, the idea of headlines like “Boat Graveyard” was put to rest, and I found myself reflecting on how easily I had almost allowed a fear-mongering phrase to shape the story.

But why?

In this line of work, I guess it’s easy to be pulled toward the scary sensationalism so common in media today. Thankfully, this experience reminded me of the importance to stay grounded and true to the values we were founded on.

We sat with Kev for over an hour listening to his story, and despite losing so much, he focused only on the positives. That was because former crew members and complete strangers had rallied together to help bring his boat off the ocean floor and back onto the water.

He admitted it had been disheartening to see the backlash and negative assumptions on social media, even throwing my own almost-headline, “boat graveyard,” back at me. It was in that moment that I realised just how wrong I had nearly been.

That’s why it is now with a great sense of comfort that Suzanna and I present a real, honest and positive story of community spirit at the heart of the boat recovery following Cyclone Koji. You can read it on page 23.

Thank you to Kev for sharing his story, and thanks also to local skipper and father of my son, Dayle Thackray, for vouching for the local paper.

We hope we’ve done the story proud.

Rach

Quote of the Week: “Don’t let a little negativity stop you from seeing all the good that’s around” (Unknown)

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