Archive
Trio of B.C. reporters up for CAJ award; job openings
Items of note, including three jobs not posted on Gaulin:
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Kamloops This Week reporter Tim Petruk, Vancouver Courier reporter Cheryl Rossi, and XTra! correspondent David P. Ball have all been named finalists in the Canadian Association of Journalists awards for community journalism. A pair of reporters in Ontario are also up for the award. Tim is nominated for his 28 Seconds series about the police shooting of a Kamloops man. Cheryl is up her her profile of an outdoor non-profit that works with high school students facing problems in class. And David was nominated for his article on the uneasy relationship between the police and the gay community.
The awards will be handed out at a gala April 28 in Toronto.
Also, the Courier‘s Barry Link, along with Nanaimo Daily News editor Cale Cowan, each won Jack Webster Foundation fellowships to attend a week-long seminar at the Poynter Institute.
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Speaking of Cale, he wrote a sweet little vignette about why the job of a newspaper reporter isn’t the fifth-worst job on the face of the planet.
Newspapering has meant that the past 23 years have been filled with days that are never the same; interesting people coming in and out of my life; the chance to travel; to live in four different provinces; and to write for a living.
Who gets to do that?
If you were one of the few reporters to come across the survey, read and scoff about it here. (Our profession’s poor rating has more to do with job prospects than the actual job.)
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Staying in Nanaimo for a second, here’s a News Bulletin story on Merv Unger, who won the Eric Dunning Integrity Award at the Ma Murray Awards. Merv was the News Bulletin‘s first editor and also served as a city councillor.
“I’ve seen changes from very strict rules in journalism where news reporting and commentary were separated stringently. If you were a reporter, you had no opinion,” he said. “That has evolved all the way to today where I think one of the biggest dangers is advocacy journalism, where people take on causes and do not present an unbiased picture.”
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The Vanderhoof Omineca Express is looking for a new editor. Former editor Hannah Wright, who did a fantastic job on the Cody Alan Legebokoff case, returned to the UK over the winter due to visa issues. She hopes to return, according to a January Twitter post.
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The Oceanside Star is looking for a reporter. Two-person newsroom. Small town (Parksville). Pretty nice location.
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And this is a pretty premiere gig, as far as mid-sized community papers go: the many-award-winning Whistler Question needs a new editor. Pretty decent gig. Also, this is a pretty spectacular headline: Nipples aren’t for chewing.
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Kristian Rasmussen is the Columbia Valley Pioneer’s newest reporter. Read his introductory column here. P.S. What’s the consensus on the website’s background, particularly behind the text?
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Finally, the 2012 Canadian Community Newspaper Awards will be announced today at a gala in T.O. Winners will be posted online afterwards. See the full list of finalists here. And if anyone is in Toronto and can send me anything of note, please do so by emailing bclocalreporter@gmail.com.
Thanks.
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Finally, stay tuned for a major-ish announcement about this blog. Post should be up around 11 a.m.
Journo-jobs returns (Dec. 12)
Blog has been slow because I’ve been busy and haven’t had a lot to write about. That said, here are some jobs that are currently open:
The Sooke News Mirror needs a full-time reporter: “Our broad reach extends from East Sooke to Port Renfrew and everywhere in between. We are seeking a full-time reporter who would be responsible for sports coverage and community news. This position offers a solid grounding in community news and is a natural for anyone seeking a wide variety of experiences.” Submit by Dec. 21.
The Vanderhoof Omineca Express needs a reporter/editor to step into the intrepid shoes of Hannah Wright: “The successful candidate will be required to work independently in a one-person newsroom, however will also be part of a larger regional news team.” Submit by Jan. 3.
And if you really need some, any work, the Cowichan News Leader Pictorial needs a part-time, temporary reporter: “The position opens in January and offers a flexible schedule. It requires about 15 hours a week, with the possibility of additional hours as situations demand.” Submit clips and resume by Dec. 16
The Merritt Herald needs a reporter: “The successful applicant will work with the editor, with both responsible for all aspects of getting the newspaper to press — writing, editing, taking photographs and laying out pages using InDesign.” Closes Dec. 30.
Also, for what it’s worth, the Vancouver Sun needs a temporary copy editor and a permanent web copy editor. That reminds me: I read somewhere that copy editors have the lowest level of job satisfaction among journalists. Just sayin’.
Murder, murder and more murder, from Chilliwack to Vanderhoof
Before we get to the North, we’ll start with murder and a missing man in Chilliwack.
Paul Henderson of the Chilliwack Times — not Team Canada — writes fascinatingly about a convicted murderer who kept his past hidden as he tried to build a life in Chilliwack only to disappear suddenly then reappear in a Saskatchewan jail, charged with another murder. He also helped a local videographer interview Sir Mix-A-Lot of “I Love Big Butts” fame. A second part is still to come.
The Times also has another story about what may be a murder, which may turn into a larger story because, shortly before a 64-year-old man went missing, the police arrested then released the missing man’s roommate, who has since been re-arrested and declared a “person of interest” in the disappearance.
And in Kamloops, a story by Marty Hastings on the Blazers’ embrace of a celebration dance last seen on video game consoles in 1994. If you know the game, this is very, very funny.
Now, to the north:
Less than a month ago the Caledonia Courier welcomed Ruth Lloyd as their new reporter/photographer. If a column written by Lloyd this week about a family member convicted of murder is any indication, she’ll do fine. By the way, you can find her blog here, where her photography promises more good things for Fort St. James.
This sports story in the Dawson Creek Daily News by Rick Davison, of a goaltender making the move to rec hockey to senior men’s hockey, is interesting because I had kind of forgotten that there are still senior men’s teams like the Trail Smoke Eaters used to be (if that sentence makes any sense).
I think this headline in the Alaska Highway News needs a hypen, but otherwise it’s perfect: “No more fur lined bikinis.” Curious right? Apparently the public pool has one of those waterslides that go outside the building. That’s a problem when your newspaper’s name has the word “Alaska” in it. The pool closes when the weather drops below -20 C or – 30 c, depending on the cloud cover, according to sports editor Kelly Lapointe‘s story.
When the waterslide was originally planned, the Pool Commission had thought it would enclosed.
“We had an actual structural engineer that assured us that the volume of the water going through the slide was sufficient to keep it thawed. He was just mistaken, unfortunately. I think he didn’t really understand what 30 below is up here. He made his best judgment based on his experience levels and we were all assured that the slide would never freeze and of course that hasn’t been the case,” explained McLain.
“But it wasn’t a decision that the Pool Commission made, it wasn’t a decision that the city made, it was our architect and the building engineer had made that assurance.”
McLain said the slide averages to about two or three weeks of closure each winter, but last year’s was about 18 or 19 days, which he said is a lot.
Here’s the start of Lorne Eckersley‘s story on “Dammit Dolls” in the Invermere Valley Echo:
When you want to climb the wall
And stand right up and shout
Here’s a little Dammit Doll
You cannot do without.
Just grasp it firmly by the legs
And find a place to slam it
And as you whack the stuffing out
Yell — Dammit Dammit Dammit!
Frustrated at the geographical distance that separates her from her ailing granddaughter, Nancy Crest has taken to making Dammit Dolls, each with the above message attached.
Apparently Dammit Dolls aren’t a brand new idea. And neither is the poem. But the idea is brilliant. I wish I had one yesterday. They should come with your business cards when you start at a new paper.
Who wrote this story about the Northwest Transmission Line for the Terrace Standard? There’s no byline attached but the story makes simple what sounds to be a very complicated and convoluted process in trying to get the go-ahead for the line.
And finally, a couple more great stories from Hannah Wright of the Vanderhoof Omineca Express on the ongoing investigation into the murder of 15-year-odl Loren Leslie. Wright’s obviously got the inside scoop on all the proceedings, as she again quotes the father and multiple friends. I can’t sum it all up, so read it. From a week ago… and the latest…
Photo by [puamelia] via Flickr
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Wright leads the way on murder story
Coronation Street
Hannah Wright of the Vanderhoolf Omineca Express has dug up more dirt on the guy accused of killing 15-year-old Loren Donn Leslie. A friend of the man accused of the killing told Wright that Cody Alan Legebokoff went missing shortly before his arrest on Nov. 22. Wright talked to the girl’s father, who gave her a dramatic rundown on how he found out that his daughter was dead. She also reports that Legebokoff and the girl knew each other and were “friends by association,” which no one else has reported. As previously noted, Wright was also the only reporter at Legebokoff’s initial court appearance.
Ashley Hendry of the Alaska Highway News asks Trevor Hurst of Econoline Crush why the hell touring bands are heading up to Fort St. John in the middle of winter.
Nice but real tiny hockey photo by Greg Sabatino of the Williams Lake Tribune.
Way down south in Vernon, it’s worth pointing out a wry story by Morning Star lifestyles editor Katherine Mortimer on being interviewed for a CBC series about Coronation Street fanatics. It’s tougher than it looks on TV, she writes:
“As someone who interviews members of the public for a living, I figured this would be a doddle. Turns out I was sadly mistaken. It’s nerve-wracking as hell being interviewed, and when it’s for TV, you have to remember to make eye contact at all times with the interviewer, to keep the “uhs” to a minimum, to slow down (almost impossible for me) and to sound vaguely interesting and at times even humorous.”
I’d rather be hung upside down by my toe nails than interviewed for TV. But then, that’s why I’m in print.
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What about you? Do you dream of TV glory? Leave a comment below by clicking the button above (up by the headline).
Have I made an error? It wouldn’t be the first time. Leave a comment (the button’s up top by the headline) and I’ll duly update the post.
Seen something else I should know about? Want to write a post? Have better photos than the Creative Commons Flickr pool ones I use? E-mail bclocalreporter(at)gmail.com.
Help complete a census of B.C. community newspapers by filling in the blanks for your newspaper in the Journo-lust Spreadsheet.
Photo by Jayneandd via Flickr
Omineca Express reporter scoops dailies; strippers raise money
Hannah Wright of the Vanderhoof Omineca Express was the only journalist to report on the first appearance in court of Cody Alan Legebokoff, whose accused of the first degree murder of a 15-year-old Vanderhoof girl. That despite the presence of reporters from the nefarious big city media, according to Bill Phillips‘s blog.
Wright thought to check with the court clerk, a tactic everyone else seems to have forgot.
From Wright’s story:
Legebokoff appeared emotionless during his brief court appearance, other than being quite red in the face. He kept his head up and stared straight forward, except for a brief look around the room when he first entered.
The only people in the public seating area was an older man and woman who sat together in the front row.
Check out Bill’s blog Writer’s Block for the story on the story.
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Down on the coast, Andrew Fleming (@Flematic) of the New West Record/Burnaby Now has a quirky short story on a local writer who was nominated for, but didn’t win, an award(?) for bad sex writing. Any story in which you write (even in quotes) “Like a lepidopterist mounting a tough-skinned insect with a too blunt pin he screwed himself into her” deserves a mention.
Andrew also deserves credit for pointing out this open letter to newspaper photographers, which has a lot of good advice even if it is geared to daily photogs.
Last week it was “BC Daily Deals” (which admittedly also turned up on numerous other Black press websites). Then it was a super creepy photo. Now, a moving drugstore. Really, Langley Times? I’m not trying to single you out, but you’re making it really, really tough.
The Maple Ridge News photog Colleen Flanagan, meanwhile, pulls off the seemingly impossible task of very tastefully shooting a stripper with a handful of 20-dollar bills in her stilettos, bra and short shorts. The story by Monisha Martins is pretty good too.
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Seen something else I should know about? Want to write a post? Have better photos than the Creative Commons Flickr pool ones I use? E-mail bclocalreporter(at)gmail.com.
Help complete a census of B.C. community newspapers by filling in the blanks of the Journo-lust Spreadsheet.
