Food, wine, music.
Educational successes, community spirit and creative projects galore.
It’s a pretty fun job, working at the Mail.
Since I took over the journalist’s seat in February 2016, I’ve learned a lot about my community, and the people who read our newspaper.
Many of you have learned a bit about me, or can spot me a mile off thanks to some interesting hair colour changes over the year!
We’re a resilient bunch, determined to face anything that threatens our environment, peace of mind or way of life.
Week after week I was astounded by the passion behind everything that people do in this region, whether it’s opening a new business, creating a program to help their neighbours in need, or simply writing a letter to say how great life is in the South West.
I have been blessed to enjoy some unique experiences and have met some unique personalities, something that is never in short supply in this corner of the world.
There have been negatives, of course – not all news is good, despite our best efforts to highlight the positives happening every day in our own backyard.
But with every sad story or tale of disappointment was a resounding “how can we help?” from our readers.
We also have a pretty good sense of humour as a community, and sometimes my colleagues in other South West towns will comment on how quirky the AMR audience is, letting me get away with having some fun with our stories along the way.
Many of the people I meet through the Mail are surprised to learn that the office (yes, we’re in Margaret River!) is manned by just the one person.
It can be tricky juggling the sheer volume of information, news and requests that comes through the door each day – a blessing, for a regional journalist, to never have a shortage of great news to share with my readers.
Without wanting to sound too cliched – this newspaper is the result of a huge group effort, from the fantastic articles we receive from our South West journalists to the hard work of our advertising and design team and the digital journalists who work to create great content for our website.
Most of all, the community of Augusta Margaret River should feel proud of their contribution to the Mail. Every day I receive sports reports, fantastic photographs, creative submissions and story ideas that help in delivering a locally-focused newspaper week after week.
Online, we reach tens of thousands of people (and plenty of those are from Perth and beyond) with our daily news, images and videos from the region.
My favourite story this year was the Margaret River SHS students campaigning to save their beloved ‘Leavers hoodie’. Rather than being a group of bratty kids complaining about their uniform, a passionate mob of both parents and kids rallied together to present a sensible and unbeatable argument to the decision makers. It made me proud to write about their cause and confident for the future of our community.
Until next year, thank you for your support in creating your local newspaper.
- Nicky Lefebvre
