Irvine Herald reporter Lorraine Howard has returned home from a “journey of firsts” after a month-long trip to the USA which saw her working on 20 different local newspapers.
The 28-year-old journalist enjoyed a whistle-stop tour of Washington and North Virginia after winning a place on a Rotary Group Study Exchange scheme.
And she discovered that the world of journalism is much the same, despite the different cultures.
The trip was Lorraine’s first time abroad – and her first time on an aeroplane.
During her stay Lorraine visited various local newspapers, spending a day or two on each – even managing to make the front pages.
She also spent four days on the Washington Post, which she describes as being “in a different league”.
Lorraine said: “Most of the papers were in rural areas with only one or two reporters, so you were thrown straight in.
“But I realised that journalists all over the world have the same job and the newspapers are still serving the community.”
Lorraine was part of a group representing the west of Scotland for the trip, and she also had to give 15 speeches to various Rotary clubs.
She said: “It was non-stop. We had two days off in the middle and the rest of the time we were working.
“But I quite enjoyed the limelight!”
As she travelled around she also stayed with more than a dozen families and wrote a weekly ‘Letter From America’ for her paper, the Irvine Herald, as she recounted tales of the ‘real America’.
Lorraine said: “It was completely different to what I expected – I thought it would be glamorous and wealthy.
“I saw the White House and I thought it was tiny – it just shows you what TV can do!”
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