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Reporter goes transatlantic in exchange project

A south coast reporter is going transatlantic later this month as part of cultural and vocational exchange programme.

Joanna Davis, from the Weymouth-based Dorset Echo, has been selected by Rotary International for its scheme aimed at giving young people from the region the chance to experience their own job in another country.

She will be joined on the trip to Canada by four other people – a helicopter contracts manager, a National Trust gardener, a cider company’s operations director and retired school principal.

During the five-week trip, the quintet will be travelling across the prairies of Manitoba and Saskatchewan and giving talks on local industries in Dorset and Somerset to Canadian Rotary International members.

Joanna, 29, told the Echo: “I hope I can be a good ambassador for the area and convince people that the UK isn’t just about London, Buckingham Palace and red phone boxes.

“I plan to make people sit up and take notice when I show them the sweeping vista of Chesil Beach and attempt to explain the origins of the Cerne Abbas Giant.

“I’m also looking forward to meeting with other journalists and passing on some of the skills and techniques I’ve picked up at the Echo.

“The trip will give me the opportunity to learn from Canadian journalists and find out more about the role that newspapers play in different communities.”

They are also keeping a blog of their trip at ‘Canada Calls’.