Not just a paper; it’s family
Like many young journalists, I experienced rejection. I knew what it felt like to see doors remain closed despite believing in my own potential.
Daily TribuneLike many young journalists, I experienced rejection. I knew what it felt like to see doors remain closed despite believing in my own potential.
Every journalist reaches a point in a career when opportunities begin to appear. There are offers from other media organizations, invitations to take on different roles, and the possibility of starting a new chapter elsewhere. I have been fortunate enough to receive those opportunities.
To many people, career decisions are measured by salary, benefits or job titles. Those things matter, but they were never the reason behind my decision. I stayed because DAILY TRIBUNE gave me something far more valuable than employment. It gave me an opportunity when I needed one most.
Like many young journalists, I experienced rejection. I knew what it felt like to see doors remain closed despite believing in my own potential. There were moments when I questioned whether journalism was truly the path meant for me.
Yet all it takes is one organization willing to take a chance on someone eager to learn and willing to work. For me, that organization was DAILY TRIBUNE.
The newspaper trusted me with stories before I had years of experience behind me. It gave me the freedom to prove myself through hard work rather than credentials.
More importantly, it became the place where I discovered abilities I never knew I possessed. Looking back, I realize what I needed was not someone to guarantee success, but someone willing to open a door.
That opportunity changed everything.
Although I am assigned to the province and spend most of my time in the field rather than inside the newsroom, I have never felt distant from DAILY TRIBUNE.
My office is wherever the story happens — at police stations, municipal halls, evacuation centers, schools, communities, government offices and countless places where people’s lives intersect with the news.
Most of my communication with editors happens through calls, messages, emails and deadlines rather than conversations across a newsroom desk. Yet distance has never weakened the trust between us.
Working as provincial senior news correspondent — and concurrently chief of correspondents — demands independence, sound judgment and accountability. Every day I decide what eserves public attention, verify information, cultivate reliable sources and ensure every report reflects the standards expected of the newspaper.
I also help oversee our network of correspondents. Leadership is not about second-guessing every decision. It is about developing journalists who can think independently, exercise sound judgment and uphold the same standards even when I am not beside them. I trust my team just as DAILY TRIBUNE trusted me years ago.
Over the years, DAILY TRIBUNE has become more than the publication where my byline appears. It has become an extended family. A newsroom is not defined by walls but by people united by the same commitment to informing the public.
Even hundreds of kilometers away, I have always known I belong because there are editors who challenge me to improve, colleagues who share the same purpose and an organization committed to developing its journalists.
The profession has taught me patience because not every story unfolds immediately. It has taught me empathy because every issue deserves to be understood from different perspectives before conclusions are reached.
Most importantly, it has taught me humility. No journalist is ever bigger than the truth, and no byline is more important than the responsibility that comes with it.
People sometimes ask why I remain with DAILY TRIBUNE when other opportunities have come along.
The answer is simple.
I have never forgotten the organization that gave me my first major break when others overlooked me. I have never forgotten the trust that allowed me to discover my potential or the responsibility that came with it. Those things cannot be measured by a payslip or reflected in a job title.
Success is not always measured by moving from one organization to another. Sometimes it is measured by remaining committed to the institution that helped build your foundation while continuing to grow as a journalist and as a person.
I could have left DAILY TRIBUNE. But I stayed.
Not because it was the easier choice, but because I found purpose in the work, trust in the people behind it and a responsibility that reminds me every day why journalism matters.
As long as I continue asking difficult questions, mentoring fellow journalists and telling stories that deserve to be told, I will uphold the principle that has guided this newspaper from the beginning — Without Fear. Without Favor.