Former community reporter Megan Howe has landed a dream job with MailOnline.

A regional journalist who started out as a community news reporter just two years ago has landed a job with one of the leading national newspaper websites.

Megan Howe, left, only joined the Shropshire Star under the Meta-funded programme in 2021 but has already been snapped up by the Daily Mail’s associated website, Mail Online.

The switch comes after she was honoured by the National Council for the Training of Journalists for her excellent National Qualification in Journalism exam results – achieving 80pc in the community journalism version of the practical journalism skills exam.

Excited at the prospect of her new challenge, Megan posted her news on social media platform ‘X’ last week, thanking those at the Shropshire Star who had helped her develop her journalism skills.

She told HTFP: “I’ve had the best couple of years working as a reporter for the Shropshire Star. It’s where I started my career in journalism and completed my NCTJ training.

“During that time, I’ve had the privilege of working with a team of extremely talented journalists, interviewed some truly inspiring people and covered a number of important local stories.

“I am now super excited to be taking the next step in my career by joining the team at the Mail Online, moving to the big city and finding out what it has in store.”

Her post on ‘X’ also thanked the teaching staff at Darlington who helped her career start off on the right track as she trained for her NCTJ Diploma.

“Today is my last day at @ShropshireStar as a News Reporter,” she wrote. “I must say a huge thank you to @MWright_Star and @MarkDrew_Star for taking me on as part of the Community News Project and to the team @NCTJDarlington for training me up.

“Thank you for all your support and words of wisdom! On to new adventures in the big city!”