I can’t tell you when I first fell in love with telling and reading stories. It started early in my childhood and continues today.
I entered journalism because I wanted to inform and educate the public about issues and events. But above all I wanted to make a difference.
Professional and credible journalists have a crucial role in our society and are essential to democracy. I think this gets lost sometimes in today’s chaotic world of social media, bias blogging, Donald Trump and fake news. We are needed more than ever in every single community. We will sort the good from the irrelevant and deliver the local news that matters to you and your community.
For the past six years, I have been part of a close-knit Advocate team in Red Deer. The most credible local news source in Central Alberta. You may only see a byline on a story, but have no doubt there is a team standing behind the reporter or photographer.
In this commemorative edition, we look back at some of the milestones in Red Deer’s and the Advocate’s history over the last 110 years. Our reporters have been there to report on everything from the First World War, Pine Lake Tornado, Red Deer Industrial School, municipal elections to the Memorial Cup, and will be there at the upcoming 2019 Canada Winter Games.
Red Deer has changed over the last century growing from a village to a bustling city with more than 100,000 residents.
Over the past seven months, I have had the honour of being the Advocate’s first female managing editor. In that time, we have introduced a reader-friendly website and new tabloid size newspaper. We now deliver fresh, local stories to our website and online channels seven days a week.
We changed because you have changed.
I’m excited about our new direction and the exciting new projects coming up in this 110th year as a newspaper. This summer we are planning a few community events and we hope you will join us.
The Advocate is here to stay.