Peter Marsh

Current job
Community News Editor with News Queensland (editing and writing for the North Lakes Times/Pine Rivers Press/Northern Times).

Degree
Bachelor of Journalism. Graduated 2009.

First job
General news journalist with the Caboolture Shire Herald/Northern Times. I was called for the interview the day before graduation and had the interview the day before Christmas 2009. I had to wait three months before I was told I had the job, but the stars aligned and it was one in my home town, five minutes from home.

The story so far
I started with Quest Newspapers in 2010 as a general news journalist writing for the Caboolture Shire Herald and Northern Times. Two deadlines a week straight out of university was a bit of a doozy, but it prepared me really well for being able to source and write news on very short notice.

My one year anniversary in the job was marked by the 2011 floods, which is one of the toughest news events I’ve ever had to cover. On the day of the rain I drove through floodwaters to get to work (not smart) then worked 15 hours until the rain stopped with a rolling story online. The next day, I stood in the house of a lady who had floodwaters stop 10cm from her roof.

In mid-2011 I switched across to the Sports Reporter round for the Moreton region within Quest, which took in four mastheads and six editions each week. I love writing sport, especially in a community newspaper where teams are loved and supported by everyone.

With that role I started up as one half of weekly local sports radio show Sports Fever (101.5FM. Thursday mornings. 8-9am. Tune in!) which has been a great way to keep my skill set broad while working in print/online.

Recently I was offered the role of Community News Editor in our Moreton region, focusing on the North Lakes area. In the role I’m learning more skills as an editor, but also still writing news every week which is what I love waking up to do every day.

It’s been a wild ride in my three years out of university (I don’t think I’ve had one position for more than 18 months) but that’s the nature of the industry we’re in at the moment. You’ve got to be able to adapt, and quickly, to whatever is thrown your way. But I wouldn’t change it for the world.