Editor’s Desk

Dominique "Mini" Tassell.

By Dominique Tassell

Several times over the past few weeks, I’ve had people recognise me for my voice alone after hearing me on the radio every Wednesday morning.

Now, I’ll admit, pretty much every time I sit down in that chair at Rose City FM, I completely blackout and forget a single person in the world can hear me.

But it’s very funny to me that this is something that’s become part of my job.

At uni, broadcast journalism wasn’t exactly my favourite subject. The written word has always been my forte.

Not to mention, I did my practical broadcast subjects during lockdown last year.

Actually, having my mum pretend to be various different people for interviews was very fun.

But I am not the kind of person who likes to be on camera or even really hear my voice in any capacity. You may have noticed I don’t enjoy doing our weekly videos alone.

At uni, I was straight up told my voice can be a bit “annoying”.

Now, I think I have a pretty typical young-girl-in-her-20s-voice, complete with a touch of vocal fry and a tendency to say “like”. I’m not ashamed of that, but it’s not really a cookie-cutter broadcast voice.

So it’s very funny to me that I’m being recognised for my voice at events.

What’s also funny, to me is how many positive comments I’ve received for my editor’s desks.

Again at university, I really hesitated when it came to writing the editor’s desk for my student paper. I didn’t think anyone really cared what I had to say.

It was my outrage on behalf of our community that spurred me on to write my first few “passionate” editor’s desks.

It means a lot to me that I live and work in a community that supports and encourages me. I’ve very proud to represent this community, and I endeavour every day to do my best to support you and lift up your voices and your stories.

It means a lot to me that people trust me to tell their stories and I will always do my absolute best to fight for the everyday people in our community.