Medway Messenger trainee Luke Hollands scooped an interview with former Pakistan president Benazir Bhutto.
Hollands, who is four months into his job at the paper, talked to Bhutto about her plans for a power-sharing deal with President Pervez Musharraf, a week before the national media covered the story.
Bhutto had given a talk in Rochester as a guest of Medway Conservative councillor Reh Chishti, a former political adviser to the Pakistani politician.
Hollands said: ‘It’s not often that you get to interview a world statesman on a local paper, so when I was asked to report on Benazir Bhutto’s visit to Medway I jumped at the chance.
‘It was a thoroughly interesting interview and I was extremely impressed at the ease with which she answered my questions. She is a very intelligent woman with a vast wealth of knowledge.
‘Local papers are often thought of as parochial, but in this case I was able to unveil Bhutto’s plans of returning to Pakistan at least a week before the national media.
‘This proves yet again that the local press is often first at breaking national, or even global, stories.”
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