Paper is about the community says ex-Burnett journo

‘This isn’t about me, this is about the community’s stories.’

Former South Burnett Times and Central and North Burnett times journalist Tobi Loftus.

I WAS 20 when I loaded my newly-bought second hand car up with furniture and clothes in 2016 and drove to my very first job at the Central and North Burnett Times in Mundubbera.

I was terrified.

I wasn’t a country kid, I was a city kid and here I was moving to Mundubbera, a place I had never heard of before.

It’s a testament to the locals that I was welcomed with such open arms.

Annaleigh, Justine, Laura, Robyn. Dan the police man. Prue. Everyone in that town made me feel welcome and a part of the community.

Just as I was finding my feet in the town I was seconded to the South Burnett Times in Kingaroy, where again, I was welcomed with open arms.

But this isn’t about me, this is about the community’s stories, of the highs and the lows, the hope and the tragedy.

South Burnett Times team Katherine Morris, Will Hunter, Michael Nolan, Tobi Loftus, Christian Bercheree and Claudia Williams in 2017. (Photo: Contributed)

Preserving the memories of those we lost, like Gary Ryan, Austin Cotterill, Jade May. Those are names and stories I won’t ever forget.

There is one other name that has stuck with me more than others, one story that I’ll never forget. Rhonda Trivett. It still remains to me an absolute honour and privilege to have been able to so comprehensively tell Rhonda’s incredible story.

Thank you for your trust in me telling that story Rhonda.

Thank you to the Bjelke-Petersens for letting me in when your mother, Lady Flo, died.

Thank you to the homeowners who let me in to tell their experiences of the 2017 Boxing Day storms.

The Burnett Times, in both its iterations are two papers very close to my heart. I wouldn’t be where I am today without these two incredible papers.

I hope you, the reader, will continue to support these great papers as they move to digital only. Thank you for your support when I was there, for giving me the honour of telling your stories.

Maybe one day soon I’ll see you all again at the Commie for a drink.

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