Greetings and recreation

Like many of you, I'm pretty excited about Recreation Day tomorrow, but before I get too carried away making plans, I thought I'd take a moment to introduce myself.

For those of you who don't know me already, which is probably the majority of people reading this email, my name's Daniel Johnson, and I started as news director at The Examiner a few weeks ago.

I've been in newsrooms for a good deal of my working life and I've spent a lot of my journalism career writing and editing for a variety of newspapers and magazines in the North ... And by "the North", I mean a little over 1600 kilometres north, as the crow flies, in Queensland.

I spent about a decade working in a variety of roles, including music writer and chief sub-editor, at several newspapers and magazines in Brisbane, before joining a fledgling Queensland-based publication as its inaugural sub-editor and arts, culture and music writer early last year.

Needless to say, the arts and cultural scene didn't end up being quite as vibrant as I'd envisioned in 2020, but that's another story.

So how did I end up in Launceston? To cut a long story short, my fiancee Rochelle's parents live in the North-West (of Tasmania, to be perfectly clear), and we hadn't seen them in a couple of years.

After spending much of the past couple of years working remotely from a tiny inner-city apartment, the idea of making a tree change to Tassie seemed pretty appealing.

I had been planning on pursuing some work-from-home opportunities but was encouraged to throw my hat in the ring for a job here. It seemed like an opportunity that was too good to pass up, so I applied, and thankfully, I got the job.

I've been impressed with the sense of community responsibility that editor Corey Martin, deputy editor Melissa Mobbs and each and every member of the editorial team has displayed since I've started, and it's been exciting to feel the buzz of a real newsroom again.

I'm proud to be working for a publication that puts public interest journalism and fair and balanced reporting front and centre, and to be working for a publication with such a long and storied history. (Did you know it's the third-oldest surviving daily newspaper in Australia?)

The enthusiasm and passion I've encountered so far is infectious, and I feel honoured and humbled to have been so warmly welcomed into the fold.

I know The Examiner has a proud history of campaign journalism and supporting the North through myriad ups and downs over its almost 180-year history.

I look forward to playing a part in helping The Examiner continue to make a positive difference for its readers and the wider community.

Kind regards,

Daniel Johnson, news director