After nearly 40 years, Fort Smith's Northern Journal up for sale

After nearly four decades, The Northern Journal, a popular Northern newspaper published in Fort Smith, N.W.T., is up for sale.

"We actually have been sort of inching in that direction for a number of years," said Don Jaque, who owns the newspaper with his wife Sandra.

"My wife and I have done it now for 40 years. We're in our mid-60s, and we're thinking about what to do in later in life."

Established in 1977, the paper began as the Slave River Journal, covering Fort Smith, the N.W.T.'s South Slave region, and Fort Chipewyan and Wood Buffalo in Alberta.

Jaque says that at the outset, his writing and communication skills piqued his interest to tell stories about the challenges people in Fort Chipewyan faced living downstream from the oil sands.

That interest broadened when he went to a Dene assembly in Fort Smith and listened to elders talking about concerns for the land and impacts from development, particularly fracking in the Sahtu.

"I realized that the stories that we were writing about Fort Chip were unfolding all over the place in all these different locations and the impact on culture and the impact on small communities," he said. 

"I realized that these stories needed to get out there more so that was one of the reasons why we moved to a territorial newspaper."

The paper became the territorially-focused Northern Journal five years ago. Today, it tells stories from across the N.W.T., while still operating out of Fort Smith.

However, the paper never lost its local focus, which Jaque said can create issues.

"It's like living inside an aquarium and a lot of times when you're pointing out things that need to change or that are problematic, you offend people," he said.

"And politicians often times are the ones that take it on the chin, and some people are broad-minded about that."

Over the past four decades, Jaque said he's proud that the newspaper has been able to foster change, but added that, at times, it came at a price.

"We've routinely had agencies withhold advertising from us, held grudges against us and in actual fact that's part of the reason why we moved from being a community newspaper serving Fort Chip and Fort Smith to being a territorial newspaper. Because of that situation."​

'A labour of love'

Jaque says that despite the difficulties facing print media, he hopes the Northern Journal is able to survive under a new owner.

"Newspapers aren't the most sought-after commodity right now," he said. "Not a lot of people are wanting to buy them, because if somebody is inspired to be a journalist, they can just start their own blog.

"The newspaper business... it's really, really hard work. We have to produce this little masterpiece each week. And I liken it to a jigsaw puzzle. It's a huge amount of work and every one of them is a labour of love and after 40 years, we've put a lot of effort into that."

If the paper doesn't make it, Jaque says he hopes it's replaced with something that does just as well.

And what's next for the paper's current owner?

"Maybe I would write stories for the person who would buy the newspaper but I would do it on my own time, and with a little bit more freedom," said Jaque.