Northern News Services founder and president Jack “Sig” Sigvaldason died in Ottawa last night after a brief illness. He was 84.
Sigvaldason began his news company in early 1972 after being fired from News of the North just before Christmas. His first newspaper, Yellowknifer, was born on his kitchen table.
He eventually purchased News of the North in 1979, renaming it News/North, bought the Inuvik Drum in 1988 and started the Deh Cho Drum in 1994.
Sigvaldason kicked off Kivalliq News in 1995, which was published in Inuktitut and English and Nunavut News in 1998. Canarctic Graphics was acquired in 1989.
His contributions to Northern news encompass 3.8 million square kilometres of regional coverage, serving 60,000 people in two languages.
In 2012, Sigvaldason received a Canadian Journalism Foundation (CJF) Lifetime Achievement Award on the 40-year anniversary of Northern News Services. By that time, he had been in the journalism business for 60 years.
Last year, Sigvaldason acquired 100 per cent ownership of Northern News Services and Canarctic Graphics after previously sharing ownership with former general manager Mike Scott.
See Monday's News/North for more coverage.