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The LJI reporter will be based out of the offices of the Battlefords News-Optimist. The reporter will cover provincial court cases in Saskatoon and Prince Albert regularly and systematically. The reporter will do a regular court docket for the communities of La Loche, La Ronge, Tisdale, Melfort, Hudson Bay, Estevan, Humboldt, Kamsack, Kipling, Preeceville, Unity/Wilkie, Weyburn, and Yorkton. S/he would also be in a position to embark on an in-depth editorial series about First Nations issues in the justice system as it pertains to residents of these communities. The News-Optimist website would be configured to have special sections for each of the communities in the reporter’s coverage area for readers to easily find stories about their home town.

The LJI reporter will cover the urban Indigenous community in the City of Toronto and cover issues of concern to urban Indigenous peoples. Issues will include housing and homelessness, education, the criminal justice system, the environment, education, employment, systemic inequities and anti-racism initiatives.

The LJI reporter will be assigned to the rising criminal activity in Peel region. Some issues that will be investigated include police accountability, the court systems, and social justice. The reporter will also investigate overcrowding of jails, quality of forensics work and youth incarceration.

The LJI reporter will be assigned to the affordable housing situation in the Greater Toronto Area and in the city of Toronto. The reporter will attend public meetings related to this issue and conduct original analysis and in-depth investigations on public housing providers and their practice and examine how this issue impacts marginalized communities (indigenous peoples, people of colour, LGBTQ2S, newcomers, people with disabilities etc.). The reporter will also look at the general social and economic impact of the housing situation on the city and region as a whole.

« The LJI reporter will be assigned to the underserved communities of Morrin, Carbon, Rowley, Rumsey, Hussar, Standard, Rosebud, Delia, Craigmyle, Big Valley, Rockyford, Starland County, Kneehill County, and Wheatland County. Civic institutions they would be covering could include:
– Provincial and Queens Bench Court
– Drumheller Town Council
– Civic Councils in: Delia, Morrin, Hussar, Carbon, Standard, Big Valley, Munson and Rockyford
– County Councils: Starland County, Wheatland County, Kneehill County
– School Boards including Golden Hills, Prairieland, Christ the Redeemer and other regional governance boards (i.e. Solid Waste)
The reporter will consistently attend municipal council meetings and school board meetings. The reporter will also explore how these bodies interact with provincial and federal decisions. We will brand the content within our publication and online with place lines or special headers distinguishing regional news or school news. Our coverage of schools will go beyond simply meeting coverage but flesh out important stories that affect their community.
On the civic side, our coverage will also go further than simple meeting coverage, it will also encompass coverage of projects within the community, issues in front of the council, and how council’s decisions affects residents. »

« The ECA Review will position the new full-time journalist in Hanna in their proposed Business Hub. The addition of a full-time LJI reporter with a journalism degree would augment and further expand the number of communities and civic meetings the ECA Review could cover. The publisher, office manager, reporter and new hire will work as a team to add new communities and realign current assignments to minimize travel times for full-time journalists and freelance reporters. Objectives:
1) Expand coverage of civic meetings in eight towns and villages and two school boards;
2) Establish physical presence in Hanna, similar to our satellite office in Stettler;
3) Provide more breaking news stories and features throughout the region;
4) Connect with more community leaders and residents. »

« The LJI reporter will cover La Ronge and the communities and industries surrounding it, including First Nations communities. Ideally the reporter will be from a First Nations community in the area and have a working knowledge of the major Cree dialect. We will create a special section on the National Observer website for this coverage, and frame it with an explanation that this is a special project funded by LJI. This section will have its own URL NationalObserver.com/LaRonge and it will have localized branding and feel to it. »

Cardston Alberta and surrounding communities: Aetne, Glenwood, hill Spring, Mountain View, Spring Coulee, Magrath and Raymond. The LJI reporter will be expected to attend all major civic events and meetings including town and county councils plus the local court and school board. He will also do follow-up stories.

Town & Country News is a weekly heritage newspaper established in 1956. We are the only local news source serving communities across the County of Grande Prairie. Our readership area covers 5,863 sq. kilometres and is sparsely populated and includes five municipalities: Sexsmith, Beaverlodge, Hythe, Wembley and the County of Grande Prairie. The LJI reporter will be required to regularly attend municipal, band and school board meetings to produce content that objectively drills down to the core issues. We will also cover the issues that may arise from the Alberta government asking for increased inter-municipal collaboration from all jurisdictions. We will also increase coverage of our local First Nations community (Horse Lake).

One full-time reporter will cover the two islands. When possible, this reporter will cover the other remote islands in this underserved area as well. We will create a special section on the National Observer website for this coverage, and frame it with an explanation that this is a special project funded by LJI. This section will have its own URL NationalObserver.com/CortesQuadra and it will have localized branding and feel to it.

The oil industry has and enormous impact on all aspects of life and also local politics. The LJI will allow to report on civic issues of a wide variety, including the oil industry, municipal politics, education and indigenous communities.

The publisher will use the LJI funding to add six hours per week to the existing reporter to allow for more detailed RCMP coverage as well as begin coverage of proceedings in provincial court and Court of Queen’s Bench in Hinton that would include being present for docket day and working with the Crown prosecutor’s office and the court system to provide coverage of any relevant cases that go to trial. The reporter will also cover our two school divisions (GYPSD and Evergreen’s Catholic).

The LJI reporter will cover council meetings for Pincher Creek, Pikani Nation, Village of Hill Spring and Village of Glenwood. We also will have regular sessions with provincial and federal government and cover meetings of the Livingstone Rage and Holy Spirit school division, local police and fire services.

Great West Newspapers owns the Gazette and approximately 14 other titles in communities surrounding Edmonton and Calgary. We would like to produce several series of articles that dig into issues impacting the communities we serve. These complex issues are ones we have not traditionally had the resources to take a hard look at. These proposed stories would include localizing decisions made at the provincial level with deeper looks at how legislation affects the communities we cover. The reporter would be based out of Great West Newspapers’ head office, which is in St. Albert. They would travel as needed and collaborate with our other newsrooms across the province for sources and background information. Our intent is for this reporter to produce a mixture of both long-form and short-form stories. We envision many series on issues that are important to Albertans during this reporter’s tenure.

The LJI reporter will be responsible for writing concise informative news stories on breaking news, updates on local issues and events, cover town council meetings, Pembina Hills School Board District meetings, Chamber of Commerce, work with RCMP to provide community updates, court proceeding reports, education articles on Canadian Law and citizen responsibilities, and search out and report stories on other topics of public interest. The LJI reporter will interview civic leaders on local, regional, provincial and federal initiatives and programs. S/he will research civic information including local by-laws, taxation, citizen responsibilities, seniors programs, youth and family initiatives, etc.

Our objective is to be able to provide the community of Fox Creek the news coverage they deserve and need as a community, in which they do not currently have. Coverage includes Municipal council meetings reporting such as planning and development, policy updates, public notices, taxes, facilities, parks and recreation, leisure, anything that pertains to the community, The Fox Creek school keeping up to date with school matters and reporting, Fox Creek Chamber of Commerce, keeping residents informed of ongoing news items etc. Keeping up to date with court, what’s going on with the community in regards to policing, Any and all other news in Fox Creek.

This LJI reporter is to serve the Indigenous population of Syilx Territory in the Okanagan Valley. The gap we intend to fill is in providing in-depth civic reporting, covering Indigenous institutions and other public institutions that serve Indigneous citizens. Issues that impact local Indigenous people in Syilx Territory including but not limited to: (1) the local implications of BC being the first Canadian province to implement UNDRIP, including local efforts to establish self determination and economic development; (2) land management and forestry issues; (3) accountability and efforts being made to address disproportionately high levels of local children and families impacted by the child welfare system; (4) local impacts and efforts to address the opioid epidemic; and (5) economic development initiatives in this large area to provide insight on how First Nations communities are working to give themselves tools to become self-reliant as well as providing employment opportunities to their citizens in ways that reflect their cultural and spiritual values in relation to the use of their traditional territories.

This LJI reporter is to serve the Indigenous population of Syilx Territory in the Okanagan Valley. The gap we intend to fill is in providing in-depth civic reporting, covering Indigenous institutions and other public institutions that serve Indigneous citizens. Issues that impact local Indigenous people in Syilx Territory including but not limited to: (1) the local implications of BC being the first Canadian province to implement UNDRIP, including local efforts to establish self determination and economic development; (2) land management and forestry issues; (3) accountability and efforts being made to address disproportionately high levels of local children and families impacted by the child welfare system; (4) local impacts and efforts to address the opioid epidemic; and (5) economic development initiatives in this large area to provide insight on how First Nations communities are working to give themselves tools to become self-reliant as well as providing employment opportunities to their citizens in ways that reflect their cultural and spiritual values in relation to the use of their traditional territories.

The LJI reporter will cover provincial court cases regularly and systematically, developing a depth of knowledge and sourcing that will not only provide regular content related to the justice system for community media, but will result in more nuanced, balanced and comprehensive coverage of major cases that appear in these courts as they arise. The LJI reporter assigned to this beat would be headquartered out of the offices of the Alaska Highway News, where s/he would have access to office facilities, administrative support and colleagues to liaise with and be within reach of all necessary courthouses for regular attendance. S/he would do a daily court docket for all the communities mentioned in Part « C » above to supplement the community news coverage of 10 different community newspapers.

The LJI reporter will cover provincial court cases regularly and systematically. The reporter will also cover the Lower Nicola Indian Band. Coverage will include provincial and federal responsibilities to the band, band governance, land management and environmental stewardship, development issues, interaction with local government, cultural values, societal needs of the community, as well as economic initiatives and challenges.