Convention: Four Northern newspaper publishers receive Silver Quills

September 13, 2008

Mike Scott, Northern News Services, Yellowknifer, presented silver quills to four colleagues

Good Evening,

My name is Mike Scott and it is with mixed emotions that I stand here to recognize 4 of my northern colleagues with Silver Quills… because 3 of them are competitors! It is also a daunting task to summarize a 25 year body of work in a few sentences.

The Silver Quill recognizes 25 years of service in our industry as an owner and or publisher. Tonight’s recipients have many years in the newspaper business.

25 years is a long time… 25 years ago… Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” was topping the charts and a much younger Dennis Merrill had just taken over the reins as AWNA exec director… he didn’t even have a gray hair back then.

The Northwest Territories has a very strong community newspaper history dating back to the 1930’s. Most of these papers were quite lively and published under adverse, harsh northern conditions. Northerners love their newspapers and the Silver Quill recipients have continued a tradition of award winning journalistic excellence. All are members of AWNA.

The first silver quill recipients are a husband and wife team from Ft Smith Northwest Territories… Sandra and Don Jaque co publish the Slave River Journal.

After receiving her BA at the University of Alberta, Sandra returned to her hometown of Ft Smith with her new husband Don Jaque in 1973. Don had already started his writing career writing term papers for desperate students at the U of A for $20 apiece.

They jumped into the newspaper business and started the Fort Smith News and then bought the Slave River Journal in 1973.

Sandra’s responsibilities and contributions were always in the production and administration areas of the business. Her keen eye for design, her administrative skills and her sense of community make a productive combination. She has been the cornerstone of the Slave River Journal for 30 years and expanded the visual side of newspaper production to start Cascade Graphics 27 years ago as a sideline to the newspaper. In her three decades of work in communications and graphics she has met many newspaper deadline nights – approximately 1400 if one were to count.

The business was a family one with all three Jaque children employed at some time in various capacities from paper sales, to janitorial work, to darkroom processing to newspaper administration, production and graphic arts. They learned many useful skills as they matured. Now grown up they can still be counted on for technical expertise and down-home common sense advice. But so far, they have declined all offers to assume the business – they say their parents work “too hard”!

Over the years many talented people have been recruited to Fort Smith as journalists and graphic artists. They have been trained and nurtured by the Jaques and many have stayed and gone on in other roles to become valuable contributors to community life. This in itself is noteworthy as such talented individuals make a big difference in a small town.

Don has been a dark room tech, reporter, editor and ad sales rep at different times, in addition to being publisher and business manager of his company. Newspaper people seem to like to juggle as many balls as possible and Don is no exception. A few years after they got the newspaper going they started a graphics company, then a stationery store, then a computer store, then became an internet service provider, and then opened another computer store in another town. Innovation was always a part of their ventures. The Slave River Journal was one of the first weeklies in western Canada to run an online version.

Journalism has always been Don’s first love. And guess what he is doing today? He is back to being editor and reporter and is out on the front lines taking pictures and writing stories. He is also Chamber of Commerce president and works on a number of other community and sport agencies. And he still runs those other businesses.
Don describes journalists as “watchers”. He says; “We watch what goes on and see what people do and we tell those stories. If we are good, our stories are accurate and interesting. If we care, they make a difference.” Don’s goal has always been to write good stories that make a difference.

Don Jaque accepted the silver quill on behalf of Sandra Jaque.

Our next recipient is from Hay River, Northwest Territories… my home town. Where rubber boots are always in fashion!

Chris Brodeur, Publisher – the Hay River Hub

Chris first caught the newspaper bug while attending McGill University where he worked as a freelance photographer for the student newspaper from 1970 to 1972. Back in the days when Robert Mugabe was a hero to left wing campus newspaper types… news papering was a socially acceptable way to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. A good fit for Chris. After graduating, Chris came North in 1972 for a summer job on the Mackenzie River and was approached by Don Taylor the publisher of the TAPWE newspaper and offered the job of assistant editor. Chris worked there until he bought the Hay River Hub in 1975 at the ripe old age of 27.

The Hub had been started in 1973 by Pat Engbers and had been produced with Jack Sigvaldason’s assistance for a period of time.

The Hub came with a house which was fortunate as Chris’s first child was born in March 1975. His new title: publisher, delivery driver, photographer, editor, reporter, layout man, darkroom tech, babysitter and Janitor – the other two staff did everything else.

Chris embraced the community of Hay River and the newspaper business. In his 2nd year as editor and publisher he placed 2nd in a CCNA national editorial award competition and his editor came 1st several years later. He has served as a director of AWNA several times representing our northern interests at the board level.

Chris has served the north well as a volunteer fireman, NWT legal aid representative, NWT student assistance board member, Chamber of Commerce director and president, a governor on the Arctic college board, and he has served on the St Andrews Church vestry. to name a few of his civic accomplishments.

Chris has been active in sports organizations and started the Ptub cross country ski races, now in its 25th year and the Great Slave marathon and road races. In 2005 he also became a board member of the Alberta Snowboarding Association.

Chris has been the Publisher of the Hay River Hub from 1975 to present and says that he has enjoyed working with wonderful people and had lot of fun for the first 38 years in the newspaper business. He wishes the days were longer!

Our last northern recipient of a silver quill is my business partner from Yellowknife,

Jack Sigvaldason, Publisher- Northern News Services

Sig, as he is called by everyone who knows him, has 56 years of experience in the communications business.

Sig hails from Winnipeg where he joined the Winnipeg Free Press in 1952 working in advertising and editorial, then with Stovel Advocate publications working on their business publications. Sig started his own advertising agency, Sigvaldason & Associates in 1957 where he worked in advertising and public relations which included a daily radio show and writing newspaper features. From 1963-69 Sig worked for the Baker Lovick Advt agency as an art director, copy chief, radio and TV director, creative director and a columnist for an agricultural paper.

Sig had all of these major accomplishments under his belt before he moved his family north to Yellowknife in 1969 to start a new career as the editor of News of the North.

Sig was fired from News of the North in 1971 for antagonizing the territorial government, the federal government, the municipal government, the Indian brotherhood, Inuit Tapirisat and the majority of advertisers.

Within 90 days of Sig’s departure from News of the North he started the Yellowknifer with Jack Adderley, who had been fired as well. (he had been fired as well). March 1972 marked the start of Northern News Services which now publishes 7 different community newspapers weekly out of Yellowknife.

During the initial start-up period, the paper was produced on the kitchen table and the bathroom was used as a darkroom. Many times his teenage daughter was forced to wait to use the bathroom until the photos were developed!
Also during this time, he helped Pat Engbers start a newspaper in Hay River and Harry Leishman start a newspaper in Ft. Smith.

The Yellowknifer’s’ mission statement according to the first editorial was to combine “having a ball with making a buck by providing a local fun paper crammed with news and pictures concerning Yellowknife personalities and events at least once a week.

The banks and government lending agencies all thought the paper would not be viable on the basis that two papers couldn’t make it in one town. It was tough slugging those first few years. Sig’s wife Mae helped cover payroll when he could not… thank goodness she had a good job.

The Yellowknifer was popular and circulation grew like wildfire. 7 years after Sig was fired from News of the North, he bought the News of the North, kept all of their staff and changed the name to News/North. A few years later he started a second weekly edition of the Yellowknifer. He then purchased the Inuvik Drum and started the Deh cho Drum. He then started publishing in the Inuktitut language with the launch of the bi-lingual paper, Kivalliq news, and the Nunavut News/North. Oh and along the way he purchased a commercial printing company, Canarctic Graphics.

Northern News Services newspapers have been recognized with many national awards for their editorial content, photography and advertising over the years… most of these due to the high standards that Sig has maintained.

Sig once told me that our success is dependent on the people we work with… our biggest asset is our people… they now total over 100 at six different locations in 3 time zones. Many have been with us for over 20 years.

Sig has been the publisher since 1972 and has been a constant player in the growth and change at Northern News Services. He has embraced technology and is currently active in web design and working in html developing our online presence.
He’s still having a ball and making a buck!

Mike Scott was also presented with a silver quill. More information will follow on in a future edition of KUTD online.