One of Bethany Key’s oldest memories is reading the Harlan Daily Enterprise at her grandmother’s house. Nowadays, as lifestyles editor, she’s read most everything in the publication before it hits the newsstands or the internet.

From a very young age, she flipped through the pages of our local newspaper wondering what it would be like to work there.

“My mamaw, Margaret Johnson, always had a copy of the Enterprise lying around and still does to this day,” Key said.

It was while she was a student at James A. Cawood High School that she got her first taste of being involved in the media.

“I took a media class which involved reporting the school news,” Key said. “We did a TV broadcast for the school, but my interest was in the school newspaper — the Sword & Shield.”

She was co-editor of the publication her senior year, learning the basics of reporting and getting the paper out. In 2008, she jumped at the opportunity to work for the Enterprise in the editorial department.

“Accepting the part-time position was my first real experience in a newsroom,” she said. “It was totally different than school news.”

She was handed more responsibility as her role grew within the newsroom. In addition to her duties at the Enterprise, she began working for the Middlesboro Daily News — the Enterprise’s sister paper — in 2012.

One of her favorite parts of working for the newspaper is the special section editions, including the Heritage section, which highlights the history of Harlan County.

“This year we published our 33rd annual Heritage edition, and I’ve worked on eight of them,” she said. “These sections are a great way for readers, especially younger ones, to learn about our past.”

As lifestyles editor, Key has many duties within the newsroom, including Lifestyles, Education, Opinion, Religion, Outdoors and Business pages along with calendars and obituaries, pagination and various other responsibilities.

“I enjoy keeping the community informed and being able to feature the important moments in our readers’ lives,” she says. “From wedding, anniversary or birth announcements to accomplishments in education and even fishing, I’m glad I can be a part of that in a small way.”

Key is a graduate of James A. Cawood High School and attended Southeast Kentucky Community & Technical College. She lives in Harlan with her husband, Bryan, and their 18-month-old son, Wyatt.