ASHLAND – It’s nice to be back. It’s my first week on the job as Ashland Source reporter, and already I’m running into familiar faces and feeling the warmth I remember from my last gig in Ashland.

You may remember me as Courtney Day — that’s my maiden name and the one I used when I worked as a general assignment and education reporter at the Ashland Times-Gazette.

I started there in 2012, after graduating from Miami University with a degree in journalism and following a stint as a features intern at The Columbus Dispatch.

When I came to the T-G, editor Ted Daniels told me what he tells all his new reporters: “We’ll work you hard, but you’ll learn a lot. Give us two years, and we’ll get you ready to move on to bigger things.”

He was right.

The funny thing is, though, after leaving the T-G in 2015 to take a job at the Mansfield News Journal, which is part of the USA Today Network, I discovered something about myself.

I was “ready” for a bigger market, and “ready” for a media outlet with national connections. I’ll admit, I did enjoy seeing my bylines in USA Today from time to time.

But as many of us who call Ashland home know, bigger isn’t always better. I found that my passion is for local journalism, locally owned, locally created and locally impactful.

That’s why I’m thrilled to be joining the team of dedicated and forward-thinking journalists at Richland Source who think deeply about the local impact of everything they do.

I hope to help expand and elevate the coverage the Source provides in Ashland, where I see positive energy building and countless important stories to tell. I’m happy to return to Ashland to cover the topics and issues that matter to my neighbors.

This year has been a big one for me. I got married in January to my husband, Phil, who works as technology coordinator for Ashland City Schools. In June, we bought a house in Ashland. Now, I’m starting a new job that has me leaving the familiar world of print newspapers behind.

It’s funny to look back on these past five years and see just how much has changed. When I came to Ashland, I didn’t know what a property tax mill was — I had to learn quickly to cover the Ashland City Schools bond issue on the November 2012 ballot.

Now, those new schools are open. I’m married to a man I met covering that bond issue, and now he and I are local homeowners who pay those mills that once seemed so abstract.

So Ashlanders, I’m no longer observing as an outsider. I’m one of you now, and it’s an honor to tell your stories. 

I hope you’ll reach out to let me know what kinds of content you’d like to see from your local online news source.

You can reach me at courtney@ashlandsource.com or 419-989-6127, or find me on Facebook or Twitter @CourtneyMcNaull.