Editorial: Introducing Taylah Fellows

TAYLAH Fellows arrived in Scone last week to begin her career as a journalist.

Taylah graduated with a degree in journalism from Griffith University in Queensland in 2018 and we are excited to buck the current regional media trend and offer her a job.

While other media are winding back, we are gearing up, with Taylah working full time on local news and a paywall soon to be introduced, we will ensure the Scone community maintains a strong local news service.

Local Roots

While Taylah grew up in Canberra, her family roots are firmly in Scone.

In small country towns, I know all too well, how many locals like to trace old family trees and know where people fit in, so let me break it down:

• Taylah’s great-grandparents were Bob and Nancy Smith;
• her grandparents Michael and Beverely Smith and
• her mum is Kim-Maree Smith, all of which were born and bred in Scone.

Full disclosure, Taylah is also my cousin. My grandmother Joan French (nee Harrison) was the sister of Nancy Smith and I grew up with Taylah’s mum Kim and Kim’s siblings Wesley, Ann Maree and Chantel.

So, Taylah can trace her family tree in Scone back seven generations on several sides and while she was the first generation in her line not to be born in Scone, it is a nice turn of events that she has moved to Scone to begin her career.

Off And Racing

While it can take some time for a graduate cadet to find their feet, Taylah has hit the ground running, with a strong natural news sense for what matters to a community.

After listening to the May Council meeting, she had many questions about the Willow Tree Road project.

So, yesterday she drove out to Merriwa to see the road for herself and speak to residents to better understand how they are affected.

She is passionate about giving the community a voice and her enthusiasm for chasing a story is equaled by her affinity for country people.

Her finger is also already in the pulse for our brand of humour.

While we had arranged for Taylah to have an obligatory photo with the mare and foal sculpture, she said she’d be back in a minute and ran across the road to the Visitor Information Centre, but unfortunately it was closed and her hope of having a tongue in cheek photo with Big Blue was dashed.

It’s only a matter of time until there is more news involving Big Blue, so I am sure she will get her shot.

Thank you, to the people who have welcomed Taylah to Scone so far, who have shared their stories and helped her learn the lay of the land.

And to Taylah, thank you for choosing to begin your career in Scone and helping us ensure we maintain a strong local news service for our community.

Sincerely,

 

 

Elizabeth Flaherty

Editor, scone.com.au