Writing Samples
Lynn Penner worked as a journalist at the Regina Leader-Post newspaper from 2019 to 2022. The below writing samples are from that time. Please note that only a limited number of articles can be read on leaderpost.com before a paid subscription is required to continue reading.
NEWS ARTICLES
‘Time to heal the divisions’: Sask. ending proof of vaccination Monday
Article originally published in the Regina Leader-Post on Feb. 9, 2022.
This article highlights how challenging it was reporting during the COVID-19 pandemic, when tensions were high and health experts and politicians often made statements contrary to one another. Reporters were expected to parse out fact from fiction to write a comprehensive narrative readers could easily understand under incredibly tight deadlines. I filed a short version of this story within an hour of leaving the press conference with Premier Scott Moe, then gathered more interviews and additional background information to file the story linked above by late afternoon the same day. My colleague, Zak Vescera, helped provide me with some of the background information included near the end of the article, and I incorporated it into the story.
This article was picked up by 15 other newspapers across the Canadian Prairies, including the Edmonton Journal and the Saskatoon StarPhoenix. When the Regina Leader-Post shared this story on its Facebook account, it received more than 6,000 engagements.
Take Care: COVID-19 pushes long-term care issues into the spotlight
Article originally published in the Regina Leader-Post on Mar. 6, 2021.
This article is the second part in a three-part investigative series I did in collaboration with my colleague Arthur White-Crummey. We investigated long-ignored challenges in Saskatchewan’s long-term care and how the COVID-19 pandemic finally brought them into the public eye. For this piece, I found the sources, conducted the interviews, gathered background research, and wrote this piece in bits and pieces over several months. My colleague wrote the first part and we collaborated on writing the final part. (Links to the other two parts in this series can be found on the webpage linked above.)
This investigative series was widely praised by health experts and the public for the attention it brought to the neglect of long-term care in Saskatchewan. It received more than 300 shares on Facebook and was also picked up by the Saskatoon StarPhoenix.
Staff shortages have Regina Public scrambling, high schools go online temporarily
Article originally published in the Regina Leader-Post on Jan. 18, 2022.
Figuring out a way to make information and data both easy to understand and interesting is a challenge I tackled often while working as a journalist. This story is one example of that. Information about local high schools moving classrooms online temporarily is something for which parents were desperate, and this article captured reader attention while also providing the facts they needed. I conducted the interviews and wrote the article within a few hours.
HUMAN INTEREST FEATURES
Jake Sinclair brings entrepreneurship and community together
Article originally published in the Regina Leader-Post on Jan. 20, 2022.
Being entrusted with someone’s life story is significant. Being able to take that person’s jumbled words, recollections, and memories to weave them into a narrative they are proud of is heart-warming. I stumbled across the work Jake Sinclair was doing on social media and knew there was a story here. I interviewed him and put together this human interest feature that ran in the Regina Leader-Post’s free community edition called Queen City (or QC) and on the Leader-Post’s website. The story was widely praised by the community and received more than 450 shares on Facebook.
A love of stories: Solomon Ratt passing on traditional Cree tales to new learners
Article originally published in the Regina Leader-Post on Oct. 7, 2021.
Solomon Ratt is a man I had met in passing while covering the education beat for daily news, and I knew his story deserved a longer wordcount. After interviewing him, I knew this feature needed to capture his humor and passion for storytelling for readers to get a sense of his personality. Readers resonated with this. The story received more than 700 shares on Facebook, with many comments from his past and present students praising the piece for how it captured Solomon’s mix of passion and humor. Solomon himself enjoyed the article so much, he told me he picked up an extra copy of the paper to give to his daughter.
For a full record of my articles and a list of where they have appeared, visit my Muck Rack profile by clicking the button below.