DAWSON CREEK -- The Peace River Regional District in northeastern B-C says closure of two key newspapers -- the Alaska Highway News and the Dawson Creek Mirror -- will make it very hard to keep residents well informed.
Director Jordan Kealy -- whose electoral area spans a sprawling but sparsely populated rural region covering almost half of the entire regional district -- says closure of the papers wipes out the most efficient way to communicate with the 18 small communities and five First Nations in his area.
He told the recent regional district meeting that many in Electoral Area B don't have internet coverage -- but almost all homes got the newspaper -- and without it, the regional district will have to find other ways to post public notices.
Bulk mail out of notices is slow and expensive, and a regional district bylaw requires notices to be posted in a newspaper published at least weekly -- prompting the regional district chair to call on everyone to ``look outside the box'' to find solutions to the communications challenge.
With files from Local Journalism Initiative/PG Citizen
