Local journalism help keeps N.W.T evacuees in the loop

Among the thousands of people forced from their homes in the Northwest Territories, there are a handful of journalists who have taken working remotely to the extreme.

Ollie Williams and the team at Cabin Radio in Yellowknife have been keeping their audience informed with 24-hour live updates, despite being among those displaced by the 236 wildfires burning in the region.

"This is what I want to be doing, is getting information to people in a time of crisis and getting them to safety," Williams said. "There can't be a higher calling than that for a journalist and whatever we're able to do, we want to do it."

Cabin Radio is an independent media outlet in Yellowknife. Operated by five locals, it offers news, entertainment and music through its website and 24-hour online radio station.

Williams worked for the BBC for 10 years before moving to Yellowknife. He said the station started around six years ago when he and his fellow founders saw a gap in local news and entertainment.

"We worked very hard through the COVID pandemic to keep people informed in Yellowknife and the Northwest Territories," he said. "I was just looking forward to maybe having a nice, quiet 2023 with some slightly later wake-up calls."

"Then this week happened."

For the past week, Cabin Radio journalists have posted around-the-clock to help disseminate information for communities affected by the wildfires.

They've shared updates on the fires, evacuation orders, where people can go and what supports are available to them.

They've also personally responded to the worried residents reaching out for help.

"Urgent inquiries about where they could get gas, what do they do with their prescriptions? 'Is my mom okay, she's 70 and she's alone in Yellowknife. Who do I call to go check on her,'" Williams said.

"We were answering all of those questions, both in our live coverage but also directly to people by email by having journalists using cell data or using Starlink … as they were themselves evacuating."

On the way to emergency lodgings more than 600 kilometres away from his home, through sections of smouldering woods and thick smoke on the only road out of Yellowknife, Williams used a Starlink satellite propped up by bags of dog food to keep working.

"My partner was doing about 100 kilometres down the highway to safety while I was writing those live updates into our system and publishing them.

"And I'm not the only one that was doing that."

According to its website, Cabin Radio offers internships in broadcasting and journalism and works with schools around the Northwest Territories to promote journalism to young people.

Williams said several Cabin Radio staff are younger journalists, with some in their first jobs out of school. They've done exceptionally well, he added.

"They got themselves out safely, they’ve contributed so much to our coverage this week, and it must have been intense," he said. "It must have been hellish for them.

"It was certainly bad for me and I can't quite believe that they've been able to do what they've been doing."

The wildfire crisis in the Northwest Territories comes after Meta (Facebook's parent company) blocked Canadian news content on Facebook and Instagram, a move Canada's Heritage Minister said "endangers lives."

Williams is grateful for the support coming from Cabin Radio listeners and readers expressing their appreciation for the station's coverage.

However, his team is just one small part of a much larger group of people working tirelessly to coordinate such a large-scale emergency response, he said.

"There are probably thousands of people who have been absolutely integral to getting that many people out safely," Williams added. "Even the evacuees themselves.

"You have a job when an evacuation order is called … it is to get out safely and look after your family. Thousands of people have done that.

"Everyone involved in this has performed admirably under extreme strain."

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Amanda Anderson and the Canadian Press.