This week I would like to introduce myself to the community as I have recently taken over the position of editor and reporter of the Vanderhoof Omineca Express, Caledonia Courier and Stuart Nechako Advertiser.
Apart from giving you my background, I would like to share my expectations for the newspapers and my commitment to giving you community news along with provincial and national coverage.
I completed my bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Mumbai, India and following my degree I worked as a teacher for a low income private school in Delhi, India. My love for social work coupled with the need to make a difference in society, gave me enough reason to work as a teacher.
However, things changed — as they do — and I decided to move to Canada to become a visual journalist.
I came to Canada in Dec. 2015 to study photojournalism at Loyalist College in Belleville, Ontario. After my degree, I was offered a contractual job with a newspaper in Bathurst, New Brunswick. I lived in Bathurst for a year, until July 2018. Here I took on the roles of photographer and reporter, freelance videographer and a social media strategist.
From July 2018 until Nov. 2018, I travelled a bit and decided to go back to India for a couple of months to spend time with family and friends.
I came back to Canada looking for a job and that search took me to Vanderhoof in January, 2019. Yes, it’s a very weird sequence of events, but c’est la vie, as they say.
Now I have been in Vanderhoof for close to a month — though it honestly seems like it’s already been a year. There is a lot happening in both Vanderhoof and Fort St. James, in terms of community news, and I am more than excited to be the one writing about it.
In terms of the kind of news I like to cover: it’s everything. I want to be your trusted news source, someone you can get in touch with if you have a news tip or you would like to read more about something that hasn’t been covered by the paper. I am a visual journalist, so I do like covering sports and events happening within the community.
I am available by email at aman.parhar@ominecaexpress.com after work hours as well. The best number to reach me at during office hours is 250-567-9258.
One thing I would like to request from both communities is to send in Letters to the Editor. These letters are necessary as they give your opinion a voice.
Apart from working, I enjoy spending time with myself. I like to read, listen to music, stare into the ceiling — sometimes I get my best ideas when I do that. But yes, I love the outdoors and all the communities I cover have so much to give when it comes to natural beauty.
I look forward to serving the communities of Vanderhoof, Fort St. James and Fraser Lake with utmost professionalism. Please bear with me for another month as I am still getting used to the work load, but my aim is to consistently fill the newspapers with the local, regional, provincial and national news you’d like to read.