PHOTO: Oliver (River) McCrossen is the latest addition to the Coonamble Times team.
The Coonamble Times welcomed a new graduate cadet* journalist to the team on Wednesday 13 March.
Oliver (River) McCrossen has already been out and about across the community, attending a council meeting, a house fire, campdraft competition, dinner with two gold medallists, a live music concert and interviewing about two dozen local residents.
Appropriately, he comes to the nickname capital with a suitable moniker already in place.
River, as he likes to be called, is 24 years old and a recent graduate of Wollongong University with a double degree in Journalism and Arts with a major in French.
“I was born in Crows Nest but spent the majority of my childhood in Sydney on the North Shore at Mosman,” River said.
“I got out of school in 2017 and decided to jump right into uni so I went to Wollongong where it was a bit more green.”
“I got to spend the first two years at uni covid-free then went through what everybody else did with it all online.”
Once well out of lockdown, River took up a student exchange for a semester in 2022, at the University of Tours, one and a half hours from Paris.
“I suppose you could call me a Francophone – I like French stuff, speak French and follow French politics and culture, whatever’s happening on tik tok.
“My father’s mother was French and I just always had an interest in learning about it.
“I took a few classes at high school and seriously picked it up at uni.”
River says he’s already found some French connections in Coonamble.
“I enjoyed meeting Brad McGee (gold medal cyclist) and chatting to him,” he said. “He’s quite fluent in French.”
In terms of his career, River says he wanted to work in rural and regional Australia.
“I knew I didn’t want to work in a city,” he said. “I was tired of the constant hustle and there’s always someone wanting money from you in the city.
“Here I bought a washing machine for ten dollars!”
“I’m happy to serve a rural and regional community as a journalist.
“It’s a great place to learn and I believe these areas still need good journalists so I’m hoping I can really build my photography and journalism skills here.”
One thing that River has noticed since arriving is “the amount of times drinking comes up in a conversation.”
“I know its a constant in Australia but it seems to be more so here.”
He also appreciates a greater sense of freedom.
“I enjoy the quiet of it here,” he said.
“And with work the fact that I don’t need to go through five different managers to talk to someone.
“You don’t need authorisation to do so many things, if it doesn’t bother anyone it goes.”
He is also expanding his vocabulary, with exposure to new experiences and has joked about creating a dictionary for new words like “swag” and “gooseneck”.
Outside of work River says he looks forward to meeting people and spending time with friends he makes.
“I want to join the mixed netball and maybe do some shooting,” he said. “I think those sports are the easiest way to avoid getting a concussion.
“I’m curious about sport here in general, it’s such a big part of this community.
“I want to see that in action, like at the oval, I want to see it for myself.”
Make sure you say g’day to River when you see him out and about with his camera.
*Cadetship supported by the Australian Federal Government