sa国际传媒

Skip to content

Michaels: Turning a page and keeping it real

Kathy Michaels is the new managing editor of the Capital News
11494059_web1_kathymichaels

Facebook has an awkward way of keeping it real.

Theresa国际传媒檚 no shining up the sulky messages from my disgruntled early 30s that are now being re-distributed to me on a daily basis. Nor is there a word that expresses how thankful I am that Isa国际传媒檓 too old to be held accountable for the thoughts of my teens and 20s.

This week, one of the memories the social media monster directed me to was from eight years ago and read sa国际传媒渢ime to circle the wagons, friendssa国际传媒 because my days in reporting were over.

A plucky little news website I worked for died a sudden death, making me unemployed for the third time in two years. It was a tough time to be a junior reporter in an industry being shaken by the interweb and I thought, perhaps, it was time to call it a day.

It felt like being knocked down by a ton of bricks, if I recall correctly sa国际传媒 Isa国际传媒檓 sure Facebook sa国际传媒渕emoriessa国际传媒 will help beef up what my grey matter has let go, in the days to come.

For one, I spent a lot of money getting a degree and was very disappointed to learn there was no refund policy.

Also, this industry sa国际传媒 next to my child, husband, dog sa国际传媒 is my great love.

Stories, ultimately, are my jam. Before I had a print product to help fill, I was telling people the news. My news, mind you. And it was gloriously overblown to make me seem all the more amazing.

Thankfully, I was hired on at the Capital News within days of this old Facebook post and I got to keep telling stories, in print.

Working here taught me a few things about telling stories. One has to tone down the hyperbole and do the reader a favour. Give them the facts, masa国际传媒檃m sa国际传媒 the world is mind bending enough without giving in to sensational slants. Also, itsa国际传媒檚 completely cliche and true, everybody has a story to tell and itsa国际传媒檚 almost always surprising.

Thatsa国际传媒檚 not to say itsa国际传媒檚 all been roses. There has been a healthy dose of angry mail and phone calls also keeping it real over the years. Once I had a business owner tell me, without realizing who he was speaking to, that there was a real beast at the Capital News, saying hateful things about the elderly and disparaging her mother.

I couldnsa国际传媒檛 figure out who it was until he quoted me to me. Isa国际传媒檒l be honest, having my words twisted and being misunderstood was slightly less painful after realizing I was being quotedsa国际传媒 #reportergoals. Also, my mother was grateful someone was there to keep me on my toes, so I owed thanks for that.

While I havensa国际传媒檛 always realized it as it was happening, theresa国际传媒檚 cause to be grateful for all of these experiences.

Now, however, itsa国际传媒檚 time to take on a new challenge. In the same building, mind you sa国际传媒 yousa国际传媒檙e not getting rid of me that easily, my favourite detractors.

Itsa国际传媒檚 time for me to step into the sa国际传媒 managing editorsa国际传媒檚 chair sa国际传媒攖he first woman to do so, by the way sa国际传媒 and I couldnsa国际传媒檛 be more thrilled. There will be less time for my own stories, and more time to get a refreshed team of reporters motivated to come up with new ideas and fresh views on the issues of the day. Isnsa国际传媒檛 that sensational?

In the days and weeks to come you will see the Capital News infused with new energy. Wesa国际传媒檙e turning a page, so to speak and we cansa国际传媒檛 wait to hear what you think.

So, pick us up. Click on us. Find us on Facebook and help us keep it real.

To report a typo, email:
edit@kelownacapnews.com
.

<>


edit@kelownacapnews.com

Like us on and follow us on .





(or

sa国际传媒

) document.head.appendChild(flippScript); window.flippxp = window.flippxp || {run: []}; window.flippxp.run.push(function() { window.flippxp.registerSlot("#flipp-ux-slot-ssdaw212", "Black Press Media Standard", 1281409, [312035]); }); }