When Nic Scott went in for an interview with Lewis County officials during the process of becoming the county’s new public information officer (PIO), it didn’t hurt that he already knew his employers.
He had been covering the county happenings, along with other local news, through KELA for two years before the new position.
His knowledge of the staff and elected officials has made his first few weeks in the role pretty smooth, too, he said.
After being scooped up by the radio business as a teenager, Scott worked in Tacoma, Seattle, Portland and Southern California before spending a decade as a Christian ministries event coordinator. When he was hired about two years ago by KELA in Centralia, he was able to do his work fully from home, scheduling his pieces around local city council meetings and morning meetings with Lewis County to scoop up news.
He said his specialty as a newscaster was creating what he calls a “words eye view.”
“People are hearing and painting a picture. If you can’t do that, radio loses its magnification,” Scott said.
Last summer, the county created a new position for a PIO. When the previous titleholder took a different role a few months ago, Scott said he saw an opportunity in the job to funnel his journalistic drive to get information out to the public.
“(My goal is to) in the best way possible, in the most factual and timely way possible, to get that information out to the greatest part of what makes up Lewis County, and that is its citizens. That they have a greater quality of life by virtue of the information that their public servants are willing to offer them,” Scott told The Chronicle this week.
Already, he’s made the Lewis County Commissioners Facebook more active with photos and news releases on various happenings, even from the inside of the executive session meeting room, allowing a new perspective for the public.
He envisions a creative spin on the role, he said, including bringing more video to the county’s YouTube channel to showcase community events or the work of various departments, such as the Packwood flea market or Public Works doing culvert replacements.
Another aspect of the job he said he’s enjoyed so far is getting back into an office, both for its benefits to his focus and social life.
“We have a great group of people,” he said.
To follow along with his projects, visit https://www.facebook.com/LewisCountyCommissioners.
