Lögberg-Heimskringla - 28.02.1986, Blaðsíða 4

4-WINNIPEG, FÖSTUDAGUR 28. FEBRÚAR 1986
Ritstj órnargrein____________
Þjóðræknisfélagið vex í vestri
Margt og mikið hefur verið skrifað
um Þjóðræknisfélagið í Vesturheimi
á síðasta ári. Segja má að síðan á
þinginu í Winnipeg í apríl á síðasta
ári hafi félagið að jafnaði verið á milli
tannanna á fólki. Greinar af ýmsu
tagi hafa birst í blaði þessu, stundum
nokkuð gagnrýnar en allar hafa
valdið umræðu og svo er að sjá að
félagið sé á uppleið.
Ekki skal fjölyrt í þessum dálki,
hvort áðurnefnd skrif hafi haft
einhver áhrif en víst er að þingið á
síðasta ári olli þeim og þó svo sumir
hafi talið það þing sérlega
misheppnað þá kann það að hafa
valdið nauðsynlegum
straumhvörfum. Það er nefnilega
staðreynd að við miklar umræður og
gagnlega gagnrýni verður oft jákvæð
breyting.
Nýlega barst sú fregn frá
vesturströnd Bandaríkjanna, nánar
tiltekið frá Seattle að félag íslendinga
þar hafi ákveðið að ganga í
Þjóðræknisfélagið og eru það
gleðitíðindi. Nú er félagið ekki lengur
einungis kanadískt heldur á það deild
í Bandaríkjunum. Seattle hefur um
árabil hýst hundruð Islendinga er
þangað hafa flutt af kanadísku
sléttunni eða úr norður fylkjum
Bandaríkjanna, nefnilega Norður
Dakota og Minnesota, svo dæmi séu
tekin.
Lee Brandson í Winnipeg skrifaði
eigi alls fyrir löngu ljómandi grein
í blaðið og sagði m.a. að hans
draumur væri að öll félög íslendinga
í Vesturheimi sameinuðust undir
merkjum Þjóðræknisfélagsins. Þetta
er síður en svo fráleitt. Það mætti vel
auka samstarf félaga í Vesturheimi
einkum þeirra er byggja á
aldagömlum meiði. I Norður Dakota
er fjölmenn, dreifð, byggð Islendinga,
en þar námu landar lönd fyrir meir
en hundrað árum. Þar gæti
auðveldlega þrifist þjóðræknisdeild
og hefur reyndar Þjóræknisfélagið
kannað möguleika á því, og er í námu
sambandi við aðila þar.
Formaður félagsins, Oli Narfason
fór í heimsókn til vestur fylkja
Kanada síðla árs og ræddi við stjórnir
þjóðræknisdeilda í Alberta og B.C. Sú
ferð hefur áreiðanlega reynst þung á
metunum og virkað vel á félagsmenn
þar. Það má mikið vera ef ferð hans
hafi ekki átt einhvern þátt í stofnun
þessarar nýju deildar í Seattle. Á
komandi Þjóðræknisþingi í Van-
couver verða ugglaust fulltrúar frá
Seattle, sem verður fagnað eins og
týndum sonum.
J.Þ.
The World's Toughest Newspaper Beat
Jack Sigvaldason also owns and publishes the Yellowknifer weekly
newspaper but only News/North serves the entire Northwest
Territories.
by Jake Ootes
The Northwest Territories has to
be the world's toughest newspaper
beat and as such it's a most unlikely
region for a weekly newspaper. But
the Yellowknife-based News/North
bills itself as the voice of the Arctic
and according to its publisher, Jack
Sigvaldason, "we are trying to do in
one-third of Canada, the second
largest country in the world, what
The Globe and Mail is trying to do in
the southern two-thirds." It’s a
challenge that requires contending
with the world's harshest climate —
eight to nine months of winter, poor
communication, limited transporta-
tion and extreme high costs. The
Northwest Territories is sparsely
settled, with a population of 45,000,
nearly a quarter of whom live in
Yellowknife, the territorial capital.
Most of the North's 53 communities
have fewer than 1000 residents. It's
an area of 1.3 million square miles of
tundra, muskeg, barrenlands, moun-
tains and bush country.
Sigvaldason is a pipe smoking 51
year old, with an unkempt stringy
white speckled beard, matching hair
and big shaggy eyebrows, who looks
more like an Icelandic mountain man
than the publisher of a newspaper.
"My father was an Icelander and my
mother a redheaded Irish-woman.
These form two very strong parts of
my character — the very cold,
analytical characteristics of the Ice-
lander and the flamboyance and
quick temper of the Irish."
Sigvaldason sits in his cluttered
8’xll' office at this Yellowknife
headquarters and talks about himself
and his newspaper. Under the desk
is a rolled up sleeping bag — in the
event he has to dash on a sudden trip
somewhere in the North. He openly
states he places little priority on his
own amenities. His meetings are con-
ducted on the Yellowknife street cor-
ners or somewhere around the
Territories.
There are other newspapers in the
North — in Inuvik, Hay River, Fort
Smith, Frobisher Bay and in Yellow-
knife (the local Yellowknifer which
Sigvaldason also owns) but only
News/North bills itself as serving the
entire Northwest Territories.
"We have a circumpolar outlook."
Sigvaldason says. "We look down on
the rest of the world.".
He takes about 20-30 trips a year
in the North. "Far, far less than our
reporters. Travel by our concept is
far different than in the South. We
don't travel just 200 miles, we may
be anywhere in the N.W.T. or in
Alaska, or Newfoundland."
Sigvaldason recently toured three
weeks in Soviet Siberia on which he
wrote a six-part series for
News/North. Of the Soviet Press,
Sigvaldason says, "Canadians some-
times say why do you have to print
the bad news. Could you not print
mostly good news. Well in Russia
they print nothing but good news.
Sometimes it might be refreshing to
get a little bad news.”
To keep travel costs down
News/North reporters frequently
"hitchhike" on government and cor-
porate planes. There are few roads in
the North. Only the southern
Mackenzie communities of Fort
Smith, Hay River, Pine Point and
Yellowknife are connected by the
Mackenzie Highway and several
years ago the Dempster Highway
was extended from Whitehorse in the
Yukon to Fort MacPherson and In-
uvik in the Mackenzie Delta. A lot of
papers frown on accepting free trips
but for News/North it's a necessity.
Travel costs would put the paper out
of business — as it is, Sigvaldason
says the travel budget for
News/North is $50,000, with long
distance telephone and telex charges
$30,000.
The bureaus and stringers some-
times use an unconventional delivery
system. TRey go to the local airport,
find a Yellowknife-bound traveller
and ask that person to drop off the
goods — copy and photographs.
"We've only lost one package," says
Sigvaldason.
The News of the North, as it was
first named, was established in the
1940's by W.H. (Duke) DeCoursey
and in 1945 was taken over by E. R.
(Ted) Horton who owned the paper
until 1969. Horton landed in
Yellowknife May 1, 1945. The paper
had practically folded weeks before
Continued on Page 5.
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