‘New’ reporter has pedigree dating to the dinosaurs
By Stu Salkeld
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Your West Central Voice
Good day readers, just introducing myself as the new reporter for Your West Central Voice newspaper.
My name is Stu Salkeld. I'm more than familiar with southwest Saskatchewan and east central Alberta, as I grew up in Oyen, about 40 minutes west of Kindersley.
Stu Salkeld
In the mid-90s I attended SAIT and earned a journalism arts diploma with print specialization, and did quite a bit of work for my hometown paper The Oyen Echo while in college. Since then I've been just about everywhere you could imagine.
I spent the first year of my career working at the Arrow Lakes News in Nakusp, B.C., located right on the Columbia River, quite a place to start off for a flatlander. Great community, but geez, to spend winter inserted in between two mountain ranges. Not what I was accustomed to. Driving my three-cylinder Geo Metro through the Monashee Mountain range in a blizzard, those were good times I can tell you.
Next I worked as a reporter, editor or photojournalist at the Macleod Gazette in Fort Macleod, The Mountaineer newspaper in Rocky Mountain House, The Leduc/Wetaskiwin Pipestone Flyer newspaper and the East Central Alberta Review located in the Stettler region.
I most recently worked for an east central Alberta online paper called the Rural Alberta Report and have done plenty of freelance work around Alberta, including in the Drumheller area.
Looking at my skills and experience, I've always seen myself as a generalist. That is, I try to do the best job I can with whatever assignment the editor gives me, whether that's town council, school coverage, sports, opinion writing, crime, provincial court or a cheque passing photo featuring local non-profit groups.
Your West Central Voice is a community newspaper, and exists by and for the local community. If you have a story idea or a contribution you'd like to make to the paper, you may call me at 403-741-2615 or email me at stewartsalkeld7@gmail.com, or contact publisher/editor Kate Winquist at kate@yourwestcentral.com.
Looking forward to working with and getting to know all of you.