The award-winning Picton Gazette has been Prince Edward County’s Newspaper of Record since 1830. It is the oldest fully independent weekly newspaper in Canada. It has a print circulation of 15,000 and a state-of-the-art digital edition and archive.

The publishers are looking for a reporter able to work 15-20 hours per week all year round. Excellent research and writing skills are the priority. Journalism training or experience is a plus. The ideal candidate will reside in or near Prince Edward County, but remote work is possible.

Please send a complete CV and two-page writing sample (published preferred) to: kvalihora@pictongazette.ca by Friday 2 August 2024. The position start date is August 26.

The Picton Gazette is an equal opportunity employer. We do not tolerate discrimination of any kind. We welcome applications from women, visible minorities, Indigenous peoples, peoples with disabilities, members of 2SLGBTQI communities, seniors, youth, and anybody else interested in fact-based and fair news coverage. We are committed to fostering skills development and to creating an equitable workplace marked by friendly respect for others.

Job Description: Rural/Urban Development Reporter

The position requires focused and ongoing coverage of the interlaced issues informing housing development in Ontario, including municipal politics, provincial policy, immigration, demographic and work shifts, affordability, natural and cultural heritage, stewardship of the environment, energy policy, and climate change.

The successful candidate will be responsible for researching, conducting interviews, and writing 2-4 stories a week, a mix of news and longer-form investigative / feature pieces. They will be an active part of the newsroom, which operates both virtually and in-person, and build skills in research, writing, photography, and proofreading on a weekly timeline. We use Adobe InDesign to design and edit the paper.

The Beat

Known as a prime tourism destination, Prince Edward County is also a development hotspot. Powerful urban developers are planning major interventions in the existing landscape. Expensive infrastructure is needed. Who pays is a critical issue. How to protect the County’s most important resources — its natural and cultural heritage — amidst the transformation is a key question. Issues include:

Residential and Commercial development and urban planning in Prince Edward County, at Council, and in the province.

Ontario Politics — Provincial Policy Statement and Premier Ford’s development agendas.

The Environment — land stewardship and climate change as they inform large-scale development initiatives.

Energy — nuclear power as a provincial initiative, potentially compromising solar and wind as viable energy sources.

Urban Planning — the new urbanism vs traditional suburban housing developments, densification, affordability, worker and student housing, aging-in-place, remote work, and rural internet/cellphone connectivity.

Indigenous sovereignty and traditional land stewardship — Prince Edward County shares the traditional territory of the Huron-Wendat, Anishinaabe, and Haudenosaunee peoples. It shares water and land stewardship concerns with the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte of the Tynendinaga Mohawk Territory First Nations Reserve.

Tourism — luxury economics and tourism are both a longstanding source of economic sustenance, and of conflicts between old and new residents and between haves and have-nots.

Misinformation — fake news, social media trolls, and mistrust are preventing healthy, open, fact-based conversation and debate in PEC as they are everywhere else.