Liam Durkin

WHAT if we were to tell you most of the pages written in your local newspaper this year were by a team all under the age of 30?

A very youthful band of enthusiastic journalists were at the heart of the Gippsland Times in 2022.

And fair to say we packed a lot into the year.

From federal and state elections, to stories of locals triumphing over adversity, to events, schools and community groups, I hope you have enjoyed reading the pages put together by the Gippsland Times this year, and I hope we have done the readership justice.

Congratulations to all those champions of community who achieved personal milestones and accolades this year, as well as those who continued to advocate for causes close to their heart.

These are the types of stories that will always make up the fabric of what a local paper is all about.

I must acknowledge my team for their work and support this year.

Particularly, I wish to pay tribute to Paul Grant, who has retired after an astonishing 45 years with the company.

Most of the pages you have seen in our sister paper, Latrobe Valley Express, in the last four decades, Granty has been the man responsible for putting together, and he has also been behind pages in the Gippsland Times for the last 12 months or so.

I feel somewhat unqualified to say anything given I have only worked with him for a short space of time, but his work and, more specifically, efficiency, has been remarkable.

We wish Granty all the best in retirement, and hope to see him around from time to time.

I must also acknowledge senior journalist Michelle Slater, who has taken an exciting posting writing federal politics in Canberra.

It is most unfortunate for us to lose Michelle, but it is a genuine once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her which I wouldn’t begrudge anyone taking, so I wish her all the best.

Michelle could always be relied upon to write front page stories for us, and for those that know newspapers, having a strong front is paramount.

Completing the trifecta of departures after a lengthy tenure this year was former editor Gregor Mactaggart.

Gregor moved to Echuca halfway through the year, continuing the role he served at the Gippsland Times.

While Gregor’s departure was untimely, he wasn’t totally lost to us, and I appreciate the fact he is only ever a phone call away if I need.

That being said, to lose nearly 80 years of experience between three people in the space of six months is far from ideal, and as such, next year is looming as a new era for the paper.

I have conceded it will be impossible to replace so much experience, so the onus will be on the existing team to step into more senior roles, with the addition of a couple of cadets hopefully meaning we are able to tick along.

I must pay a gratitude to our Sale editorial team: Stefan Bradley, Tom Parry and Zoe Askew.

For those that don’t know, it is not just the Gippsland Times that is put together by us; we also have a weekly newspaper in Morwell (Latrobe Valley Express), as well as Gippsland Farmer once a month.

There is a lot going on, so please forgive us if there is a typo every now and again.

The Sale crew have done an unbelievable job under great duress, and I can’t applaud their efforts enough.

They have worked virtually independently for the best part of 12 months, and shown they are more than capable of stepping into those senior roles mentioned earlier.

Another man I need to thank is Phil Hopkins.

Phil answered an SOS from us halfway through the year, coming out of retirement to be a senior reporter when I stepped into the editor’s chair.

His guidance and calming influence has been a godsend.

It would be remiss of me not to thank Julianne Langshaw as well – who gave me my start at this very paper.

Taking on the editor’s job was certainly a challenge, and I will be the first to admit I wasn’t ready for everything that came with it.

When I took the job, no one told me I’d have to be a psychologist as well.

Stepping in as a 27-year-old meant there was going to be some steep learning curves, and it was indeed an experience at times.

This is ridiculous I know and I certainly wouldn’t recommend it, but there were a few times this year I had to force myself to stay awake for more than 30 hours just to get a paper out.

As I said, it was an experience.

That being said, I have appreciated the people I have worked with placing their trust in someone so young.

Thank you also to the various clubs and local organisations for their hospitality.

To be editor of Gippsland’s oldest newspaper is indeed a great honour, and not something I forget.

As challenging as it has been, when you hear certain organisations are preparing for life after the Gippsland Times, you can’t help but be motivated to think ‘we’ll show you, we’re going to keep this thing going’.

For me, the weight of responsibility certainly isn’t lost when you are dealing with companies and individuals with bank balances I can only dream of.

I added some interesting numbers into my phone this year: Daniel Andrews, John Pesutto, and every local MP.

The state election was undoubtedly the professional highlight for the year.

It was an exhausting few weeks from all involved, but I again must thank my team for the work they did.

Moving forward, I hope we are able to add to the coverage, and keep the community informed.

Court is certainly one area I would like to pick up on, but like everything, we need to have the manpower in order to do it.

I won’t shy away from the fact that I need help. I actually haven’t had a day off in over a year, and my fear is I am going to hit the wall face-first before too long.

Hopefully by this time next year we will have troops on board committed for the long haul.

The buck ends up falling with the editor don’t get me wrong, but if it is the editor sitting in the driver’s seat and just the editor then we have a big problem.

Thanks to everyone for their support.

I have no hesitation in saying this year was the most challenging of my life, both professionally and personally, but if there was a silver lining, it was the number of ‘good’ conversations I was able to have with people who offered an ear to listen.

Hope to see you all in 2023.

And yes, if we had a dollar for every time someone told us “no one reads Friday’s paper”, we wouldn’t be working here – we wouldn’t need to work at all.

LIAM DURKIN
EDITOR – GIPPSLAND TIMES