A NINE-year-old Thornlands boy with his own growing community newspaper may be Australia’s youngest journalist and editor.
Jonah Hanbury, a Year 4 student with a growing passion for journalism, has launched The Morris Messenger, quickly becoming a favourite among residents on Morris Circuit.
Jonah swapped the schoolyard for the newsroom this week, joining the Local Redland Bayside News team for the day.
He took his place at the regular Monday 10am editorial meeting before heading to Redland City Council to meet Division 3 councillor Paul Gollé.
Jonah sought an update on some local issues and story ideas for his own newsletter.
He then accompanied the news team to report on the closure of Cleveland favourite Café Julz – a taste of the harder local stories journalists are sometimes called on to cover.
Jonah said his newsletter began as “a fun project”, but it was driven by a simple goal.
“I wanted to connect people with each other and see what people had been up to and share good and exciting news,” he said.
What started as a one-page bulletin has now doubled in size, with neighbours regularly sending him story leads, updates and ideas for future editions.
His paper has its own familiar features too, including a fun fact and comedy corner.
“I like to only write positive things to make people smile,” Jonah said.
But the young editor is also prepared to tackle the bigger issues.
His favourite story so far has focused on the local park, highlighting the need for renovations.
“I like writing about things like that because I think it will be important to lots of people in the neighbourhood and I like to try and help people,” he said.
The response has been encouraging – Jonah posts each edition in the neighbourhood Facebook group and says readers are quick to get involved.
“Lots of ‘well-done’s and content for the next newsletter,” he said.
Jonah hopes to keep expanding his publication and has even begun thinking about inviting local businesses to advertise to help with printing costs.
Bianca Stubbs Real Estate has already stepped in to print the newsletter free of charge after Jonah encountered difficulties producing his first edition.
