“Good journalism holds politicians to account. It reports as events happen, including when complaints or charges are laid. And it reports the outcome of those charges, whether the person is condemned or cleared.” An important read in this week’s @petroliaindie.bsky.social:

"At a press conference in a near-empty parking lot in Sault Ste. Marie on Tuesday, reporters said they were confined to a small, fenced area about 25 metres from where Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was speaking."

Ministry says Suncor spilled up to 5,000 litres of crude oil into the St. Clair River yesterday: petrolialambtonindependent.ca/2025/03/28/s...

Lambton beef producers looking for new pastures Read this via petroliaindie.bsky.social petrolialambtonindependent.ca/2025/03/10/l...

#NEW: Aamjiwnaang First Nation, federal government, launch groundbreaking initiative to address environmental racism. petrolialambtonindependent.ca/2025/03/07/a...

Progressive Conservative incumbent Bob Bailey will serve a sixth term as Sarnia-Lambton's MPP after being re-elected during the 44th Ontario general election. sarnianewstoday.ca/sarnia/news/...

“We need more treatment, more facilities because people get addictions, they lose their jobs and they lose their homes. “We need to have compassion for them and learn from what happened in Rainbow Park.”

Six of nine candidates made their case Tuesday for why they should be elected the next Sarnia-Lambton MPP. Noticeably absent was incumbent PC Bob Bailey. Election coverage from @petroliaindie.bsky.social and @cdobsonnewsnviews.bsky.social: petrolialambtonindependent.ca/2025/02/18/s... #ONpoli

Great post from broadcast journalist Seyram Abdallah, in an age where it seems anyone can claim to be a journalist or a news organization:

There seems to be some kind of pattern emerging. #OnPoli

POV: the girls from Mooretown take on the PWHL. #believe @pwhlsceptres.bsky.social @pwhlpa.bsky.social @pwhlfleet.bsky.social @iankennedyck.bsky.social

This is great to see and well deserved.

Well deserved!!!

"More journalists were killed in 2024 than in any other year since the Committee to Protect Journalists began collecting data more than three decades ago. At least 124 journalists and media workers were killed last year, nearly two-thirds of them Palestinians killed by Israel."

Aamjiwnaang First Nation and the federal government will work together on a pilot project to address environmental racism. Important story by @emmamci.bsky.social thenarwhal.ca/aamjiwnaang-...

#NEW: from @cdobsonnewsnviews.bsky.social - Sarnia-Lambton incumbent MPP Bob Bailey is not attending a single all-candidates meeting this campaign. petrolialambtonindependent.ca/2025/02/11/b...

Aamjiwnaang’s Chief files complaint against Sarnia councillor’s “untrue, reckless, offensive, disparaging and abusive” remarks Councillor calls Chief's remarks "a threat against me doing my job." Read this via petroliaindie.bsky.social petrolialambtonindependent.ca/2025/02/06/a...

The chief of Aamjiwnaang First Nation says formal complaints have been submitted to the County of Lambton and City of Sarnia's integrity commissioners following remarks made by city/county councillor Bill Dennis last November.

“It does feel like a calling…It feels divinely guided.” I sat down with SW Ontario’s four female First Nations Chiefs to talk about their roles as leaders, mothers, and protectors of the water. Read the full story here: petrolialambtonindependent.ca/2025/01/29/b...

Excellent reporting. "The data the White House has cited to say Canada is responsible for a 'massive” increase in fentanyl flowing across the northern border include a large drug bust that, according to the U.S. border agency, has no known connection to Canada." #cdnpoli

Sarnia non-profit LTC manager alarmed by cost of dementia housing project in Petrolia Read this via petroliaindie.bsky.social petrolialambtonindependent.ca/2025/02/03/s...

Mayor Mike Bradley wants the county to allocate most -- if not all, provincial funding geared toward "winding down" homeless encampments to the City of Sarnia. sarnianewstoday.ca/sarnia/news/...

Local news outlets should clearly label opinion pieces. From @trustingnews.bsky.social: “In our dream world, opinion content all begins with the word ‘opinion,’ a colon and then the headline, just to make it absolutely clear. It’s the only clear word to use.” Read more: lnkd.in/gxkcrwbC

Over $70,000 has been spent so far, in relation to a workplace harassment matter at Sarnia City Hall.

More addiction recovery beds, one-stop centre for help coming to Lambton County Read this via petroliaindie.bsky.social petrolialambtonindependent.ca/2025/01/27/m...

A Sarnia city councillor has been banned from city hall, except in limited circumstances, and won't be able to attend in-person meetings once they're reinstated.

Are your local news outlets clearly labeling OPINION pieces? From @trustingnews.bsky.social founder & director Joy Mayer: “In our dream world, opinion content all begins with the word ‘opinion,’ a colon and then the headline, just to make it absolutely clear. It’s the only clear word to use."

Great to see my local (and independent!) news source on here :) @petroliaindie.bsky.social

Human remains discovered last week in the area of Highway 40 and Lasalle Line have been identified as Bradley Ogilvie, who was reported missing in November 2023.

"It may baffle you and me, but there are some people who feel safer and more secure staying outdoors." Important reporting on how Sarnia's unhoused are surviving the cold, and what frontline workers are doing to help: petrolialambtonindependent.ca/2025/01/23/c...

Outlets can publish credible, fact-checked, evidence based pieces on climate change, vaccinations, the carbon tax, extremism, etc. and it will always lose out to a photoshopped screengrab someone's aunt posted on Facebook because the screengrab is allowed but the link to the article is not.

“People, even more than they did before, need to be their own gatekeepers & fact-checkers & editors when it comes to their information diet." - NLP's @peteradams.bsky.social in this @mattvas.bsky.social @stateline.org piece #NewsLiteracy stateline.org/2025/01/23/i...

Bracing for Poilievre: Canada’s likely next prime minister threatens to gut the country’s press. www.cjr.org/analysis/can...

Sarnia city council hasn't met in-person for eight months amid conflicts involving one politician. Can a solution be found? #swont lfpress.com/feature/sarn...

CNN’s @donie.bsky.social just published my perspective on what’s happening with Meta: “Cutting fact checkers from social platforms is like disbanding your fire department.” www.cnn.com/2025/01/13/t...

A community food pantry recently opened in Brigden, Ontario, where 200 local students lineup up to form a ‘chain of caring’ to deliver much-needed food and hygiene items last week. My story here: petrolialambtonindependent.ca/2024/12/19/s...

A story of grief, books and a stranger's kindness. Read this via petroliaindie.bsky.social petrolialambtonindependent.ca/2024/12/17/a...

As @poynterinstitute.bsky.social explains ⤵️, standards-based #journalism means rigorously confirming facts - & reaching out to subjects of a story for comment. It also means changing or scrapping a story when new info is learned. ➕ 7 standards of quality journalism: bit.ly/7StandardsJo...

🤣 Memes can be funny! But they aren't news... 👍 The number of likes a post has doesn't mean it's legit. Here are 7 basic tips for staying sharp as you scroll ⤵️ 🔗 Download the infographic: bit.ly/7tipsNLP #MediaLiteracy #TlSky

Lambton County workers have convinced dozens of Rainbow Park inhabitants to move into shelter or have helped them find alternate living situations. But there are a couple dozen souls unwilling to move. from Cathy Dobson for The Independent: petrolialambtonindependent.ca/2024/12/11/o...

Please do your part to support quality local journalism in Sarnia-Lambton: subscribe, buy an ad, visit their website and pick up a paper copy. P.S. A local newspaper subscription makes a great holiday gift!

Flare from NOVA Corunna flaring seen as far south as Dresden. Read this via petroliaindie.bsky.social petrolialambtonindependent.ca/2024/12/06/f...

🚨 When you receive a breaking news alert, it's easy to react immediately without getting the full picture. That can add to the spread of unverified info. Start by clicking on the rest of the story, not just the headline. Here are 6️⃣ more tips. 🔗 Download: bit.ly/BreakingNews... #NewsLiteracy

A candlelight vigil is set for Saturday from 3-5p.m. at London and Murphy roads, one of the busiest intersections in the city: www.theobserver.ca/news/vigil-o...

Oligarch times, and the oligarchs suck

“We don’t use A.I. to write articles, and journalists are ultimately responsible for everything that we publish.” www.nytimes.com/2024/10/07/r...

Imperial reported a spill to the St. Clair River that required downriver notification Tuesday afternoon. sarnianewstoday.ca/sarnia/news/...

“We drive from Grand Bend to Port Lambton for work and are meeting the heart and soul of Canada. I really feel like I am family.” Beautiful story about a Ukrainian family who now call Petrolia home (from Cathy Dobson via @petroliaindie.bsky.social) petrolialambtonindependent.ca/2024/12/01/m...

A reminder, if you're a #cdnmedia freelancer or other person who interacts with editors on purpose, there's a starter pack of editors at Canadian publications here: go.bsky.app/SJgutHX

(1/2) A member of Sarnia's Dunlop Central United Church – where Coun. Adam Kilner serves as minister – spoke up at Sunday's service about a recent council meeting where Kilner was berated by fellow councillor Bill Dennis. "When bad things like that happen... we need to name them."