The Western Plains App is expanding their presence in the small towns scattered around the vast reaches of western New South Wales, with the appointment of casual reporters, so readers can expect to see some new by-lines popping up in their newsfeed in coming months. 

The first to join the team is Condobolin's Lucy Kirk, who is juggling her new role with full-time university studies and other part-time work in a local printing business. 

"I'm completing my degree in Communications majoring in Journalism so I'm always on the lookout for relevant opportunities," Lucy said. 

"I've had a bit of experience and I'm local to the Lachlan Shire area so I have some knowledge to bring." 

"The Western Plains App do a really good job of bringing all these regions together and it's something I wanted to get involved with." 

Now in her second year of journalism studies Lucy has already dipped her toe in the water of regional media, having completed an internship with the Condobolin Argus newspaper. 

"I did an internship at the Argus for eight weeks and had a really great time," she said. 

"I got to go to lots of local events, cover stories important to my community, and get to see what happens in a country newspaper." 

"It made me realise this is something that I love." 

Having begun her post-secondary studies at Newcastle University in a business and marketing degree, the onset of the covid pandemic sent Lucy packing after just eight weeks and she returned to her home 30 kilometres north of Condoblin. 

"I had to move home," Lucy said. "I didn't want to get stuck there." 

She took advantage of the downtime to review her direction, and decided to go back to what she'd always dreamed of doing. She switched to the journalism degree at Sydney University of technology but after 12 months of face to face classes is now completing her degree entirely online. 

"Ever since I changed to journalism I've really loved it," she said. 

"I've loved being here ever since and there's no way I'll go back."  

"There's so many opportunities for me out here - I'm not missing out on anything." 

As a 20 year old, Lucy says the flexibility of working remotely was one of the things that really appealed to her when she came across the advertisement for the App reporter role in her local newspaper. 

"I like writing, I like print media but I did a couple of subjects on digital media and they were some of my favourites because it's so relevant," she said. 

"I'm pretty open-minded and liked the idea of the distance work and the flexibility of it all. I like things to change-up every now and then." 

"I was really surprised and pleased when I heard about the Western Plains App because everyone's got a phone in their hand. 

"It's such a convenient way of getting your news now, it just makes sense for the future of journalism," Lucy said. 

Like most journalists, it's finding and telling real stories that is a real motivator for Lucy and being able to work in home territory makes it even more special. 

"I'm keen to tell local stories of interest to a broader region," she said. "Stories about people, events and organisations in the Lachlan Shire and things that matter to the region." 

"Regional journalism is definitely my thing. I've got friends and family all around. I've got close ties to the community now and I expect to develop more." 

"I love it our here and I'm very excited to start with the Western Plains App and excited for the opportunities it will bring." 

Lucy has joined Managing Editor Lee O'Connor, staff journalist Oliver Brown and casual reporter Laura Williams in writing for the App and is a welcome addition to the team thanks to support from the Facebook Australian News Fund in conjunction with the Walkley Foundation. 

Stay tuned for more new faces in coming weeks.