Energeticcity.ca Weekly Review: Local Journalism Initiative

Welcome to the next installment of the Weekly Review, a series where we mention what’s going on behind the scenes and showcase the previous week’s most-read stories.

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Behind the Scenes

I wanted to take a minute to share some more information on a program we utilize called the Local Journalism Initiative, also known as LJI. This initiative was created by the federal government to provide funding to newsrooms for the creation of journalism that focuses on underserved communities across the country. Since we were approved for funding a couple of years ago, we have used it to create our Indigenous Voices Reporter position which is currently being helmed by Ed Hitchins.

To be clear, while the funding is provided by the federal government, editorial decisions are still made by us here at Energeticcity. Because of this funding, we have been able to share more stories focused on the local First Nations in our region. Here are some examples of the stories Ed has written:

• Trees to be Planted in Joint First Nation and BC Energy Regulator Restoration Project to Restore Caribou Habitat
• Judicial Review of Blueberry River First Nations Council Lies in Hands of Federal Court
• Halfway River First Nations’ Arbor Days to Return for 2025

Another key factor of LJI is that any story written by one of these reporters can be published on other media platforms. A great example of this is a recent story we had about the LNG project in Kitimat. This story was written thanks to the initiative but originally published on The Narwhal. Because LNG is a big deal in our area, we shared it on our site as well. Any story written under LJI will be labelled as such and you may even see Ed’s writing on other platforms.

If you have any questions about the Local Journalism Initiative or about the stories we write, you can reach out to our News Director Franki Berry at franki@moosemediafsj.ca

Most-Read Stories of the Week

It’s always interesting to see what the readers of Energeticcity.ca are most curious about. Sometimes it’s a big decision that will impact property taxes, and sometimes it’s a new restaurant coming to town. Here are the most-read stories for the week of July 13 to 19, 2025:

1. Hundreds Gather to Watch Landing of Large Jet: in Fort St John on July 12, 2025. The C17 Globemaster III jet is piloted by Jerin Roberts, who was born and raised in Fort St. John. 
2. Playground Equipment to be Dismantled: in Dawson Creek due to “risks to users.” The City will be removing equipment in seven parks after they have been assessed as “no longer meet[ing] current safety requirements” put in place by the Canadian Safety Association. 
3. Court Report: for the week of July 7 to 11, 2025. Included are the latest sentences handed down from the Fort St. John and Dawson Creek Provincial Courts.

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