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Former Prince George Citizen reporter tied to Philippines shooting
A former Prince George Citizen reporter may have been the man who shot and killed two people in a Philippines courtroom this week before being shot himself.
Start of the Citizen’s story:
John Pope was facing charges of illegal possession of firearms when he was shot by police in Cebu City the Southeast Asian country. He was described in local reports as being a journalist.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs was unable to provide any personal details about Pope due to privacy concerns, but a man named John Pope was a Citizen staff reporter in the late 1970s and early 1980s. According to former Citizen employees, Pope was living in the Philippines for the last 10 to 15 years.
The Citizen also received a package from John Pope in the fall originating from the Philippines addressed to a former staff member.
Former colleagues at the Citizen had starkly different memories of Pope – some said he was a good friend and very loyal, while others said he was troubled and unhappy.
Prince George Citizen needs new managing editor, is Glacier’s “premier daily in B.C.”
So the Prince George Citizen is looking for a new managing editor. See the job posting on Gaulin here.
Of note (and purely in the interest of stirring the pot), Citizen publisher Colleen Sparrow talks smack in the posting, calling her paper “Glacier Media’s premier daily in B.C.” Glacier, of course, has a few other papers with publishers who might dispute that bravado, not the least of which are the Nanaimo Daily News, Kamloops Daily News, and, most notably, the Victoria Times-Colonist.
Add to the fact that the Citizen ran a four-page wrap last election for a mayoral candidate and one wonders if Sparrow has a wing to flap. Or maybe it is the best. Leave a comment (That means you, Tim and Cale).
Prince George Citizen staffer & family killed in crash
This is really sad:
Prince George Citizen systems manager Matt Altizer, his wife, Leah, and their two children Jonathan and Emily, were killed Wednesday in a head-on collision south of P.G. Thursday morning. Altizer was 40. His children, were in Grade 8 (Jonathan) and Grade 6 (Emily)
From the paper:
The family members were on their way to Vancouver to fulfill a lifelong dream of Altizer, a huge tennis enthusiast: attending a Davis Cup international match. Canada plays France in Vancouver this weekend.
At about 9:30 a.m. Thursday morning, a few minutes north of McLeese Lake, the family’s SUV and a semi truck collided head on. The truck driver survived.
Kinda puts all this Osoyoos Times stuff into perspective.
Interim publisher Colleen Sparrow, who worked with Altizer for more than a decade, said the entire community has suffered a great loss.
“I know that I speak for everyone here at The Citizen, and across Glacier Media, when I say that we have not only lost a colleague but a great friend today,” she said. “He is someone who was dear to all of us. Matt was a kind and gentle man who would go out of his way to help anyone, and patience was his hallmark.
“We grieve over the loss of Matt and his family in this difficult time.”
Police say five people died, but it’s unclear who the fifth victim is.
PG Citizen runs full-page front-page ad for mayoral candidate day before election
I regret I don’t have time to do a full post on this, but either way, this seems very, umm…., strange.
The Prince George Citizen’s front page for Nov. 18 apparently looked like this:
That’s a muddy image (courtesy of Andrew Kurjata’s twitter feed), but here’s what it shows: a full-page, front-page ad ad for a mayoral candidate. Furthermore, as the CBC’s Betsy Trumpener reported on Twitter, there was no slug explaining it as such. Find images of the inside pages here.
I can only imagine what the paper’s editors and reporters think of this. It’s so, so crazy, it’s barely worth commenting on. As it happens, I don’t have time to do so, so it’s over to you. Leave a comment.
Journo-jobs (Jan. 7)
If your New Year’s Resolution was to find a job in P.G. or Alberta, good news!
Two openings at the same daily paper!
Prince George Citizen – reporter
From Gaulin: “The ideal candidate possesses a passion for news and the written word, and will also have in depth knowledge of CP style and Photoshop, Quark and InDesign.” More…
You need two years experience, along with some layout skills. Closes Jan. 14.
Prince George Citizen – copy editor
From Gaulin: “The ideal candidate possesses a creative flair, a passion for the written word, and in depth knowledge of Quark, InDesign, CP style and Photoshop.”
You need two years experience and advanced Quark and InDesign skills. I’m mildly surprised that the Citizen uses both Quark and InDesign, but I can kind of see how that might be practical. Kinda. Closes Jan. 14
First one to show up on the first day of work claims seniority (right?).
Alberta
A slew of job openings o’er in the flatlands.
The Drayton Valley Western Review needs a multi-media journalist. You need a degree/diploma and some photography skills, hopefully. Closes Jan. 21. The Review is a Sun Media paper and Drayton Valley is a couple hours west of Edmonton.
The St. Paul Journal needs an editor to manage its three-person newsroom for one year. Experience is an asset for this mat-leave position. The Journal is a Greatwest paper and St. Paul is northeast of Edmonton on the edge of a lake. Closes Jan. 18.
The Edson Leader needs a temporary journalist until April. You need a car and a pulse. This presumably starts ASAP and you’ll get paid $1,218 every two weeks. The Leader is a Sun Media paper and Edmonton is west of Edmonton, about midway between the city and the B.C./Alta. border.
The Innisfail Province needs an editor. You need several years of reporting experience and some time as an editor. The Province is a Greatwest paper and Innisfail is just south of Red Deer.
When in doubt, blame the media
Well the Prince George Citizen seems to have stepped in it.
As I write this, the top story on the Prince George Free Press the headline: “RCMP, city, firefighters blast Prince George Citizen.” Firefighters and police officers were accused of participating in a brawl in a story in the Citizen. The original offending story on the Citizen website – it’s apparently been removed after provoking articulate comments like “you’re an idiot” – but it has pissed off all the people who matter in town. The Citizen told Free Press reporter Arthur Williams that it stands by the story.
Despite the story and headline — which I guess is the only one you can write — Free Press editor Bill Phillips seems to take his competitor’s side. On his blog he writes, “It doesn’t seem like the local officials actually took the time to talk to the Citizen about the story, but rather called a press conference to complain about it.”
At first blush, for us, it’s fun to see the other guys get blasted. However, we are being dragged into something between the city and the paper. I suppose it’s a public response to a public story.
What’s interesting is that neither the city, the police, or the firefighters seem to be willing to launch a libel suit against the Citizen, which is the only recourse for most people who feel maligned. Perhaps they just want the public response.
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In other northern news….
Lots of comments on this 100 Mile House story by Ken Alexander about a one-armed woman fired by Dairy Queen for, according to the B.C. Human Rights Commission, more or less having one arm.
Ryan Lux of the Alaska Highway News writes that Fort St. John council will let pastors pray in City Hall for city officials to craft wise legislation. The program will be run for a three-month trial period. Success will be determined by the number of staff and politicians showing up for prayer not, apparently, by the brilliance, or lack thereof, of resulting legislation.
The aforementioned Bill Phillips also writes about a study that reports men are dying quicker than woman up north.
Alan Hale of the Northern View in Prince Rupert writes about a limited First Nations blockade and runs into your typical Ministry of (Insert gov’t department here) wall. The issue is interesting. The government response isn’t, but it is disturbingly typical. Why do they always have to reply to such comments in e-mails in which they often don’t address the original questions? Actually don’t bother answering. The reason is just too obvious.
Seen something else I should know about? E-mail bclocalreporter(at)gmail.com
Reminder: help complete a census of B.C. community newspapers by filling in the blanks of the Journo-lust Spreadsheet.
