Fort McMurray Today

The Fort McMurray Today is a publication based in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. It is considered the paper of record for Fort McMurray and covers a number of topics affecting the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo.

The daily newspaper was founded in 1974 after Bowes Publishing bought the weekly McMurray Courier, a weekly newspaper founded in 1970 by Frances Jean. Ownership transferred to Sun Media in 1988, which was then bought by Postmedia in 2014.[1][2]

In 2017, the newspaper's coverage of the 2016 Fort McMurray Wildfire won a National Newspaper Award for breaking news. The award was shared with the combined newsroom of the Edmonton Journal and Edmonton Sun.[3]

That same year, the newspaper also covered infrastructure for running water and sewage systems that have been a long-awaited priority for the RMWB's hamlets of Anzac, Conklin, Gregoire Lake Estates, Janvier (Chard) and Saprae Creek.[4][5] Conklin and Janvier (Chard), which has a population that is mostly First Nation and Métis, also faced a housing crisis.[6] The series was nominated in the Community Media category by the Canadian Association of Journalists.[7]

Fort McMurray Today published Monday to Saturday until the 2016 Fort McMurray Wildfire on May 3, 2016.

The newspaper temporarily became an online-only publication until November 2016 when the tabloid began publishing Tuesday and Friday. A supplemental tabloid was delivered free throughout Fort McMurray every Thursday.[8]

The newspaper became a free weekly in August 2019 that was published every Thursday. On January 17, 2023, Postmedia announced Fort McMurray Today and 11 other properties would become online news websites by the end of February.[9]

  1. ^ "Postmedia to Acquire Sun Media's English Language Newspapers and Digital Properties | Postmedia". Postmedia Network. October 6, 2014. Retrieved 2022-09-09.
  2. ^ McDermott, Vincent (December 29, 2017). "Tim O'Rourke, former Today publisher and community champion, dies at 56". Fort McMurray Today. Archived from the original on December 30, 2017.
  3. ^ "Fort McMurray Today wins award for fire coverage". Fort McMurray Today. May 6, 2017. Archived from the original on May 7, 2017.
  4. ^ Bird, Cullen (October 5, 2017). "Pipe dreams: rural water, sewer still a luxury for some". Fort McMurray Today. Retrieved 2022-07-12.
  5. ^ Bird, Cullen (October 5, 2017). "Pipe dreams: the 20-year rural water and sewer promise". Fort McMurray Today. Retrieved 2022-07-12.
  6. ^ McDermott, Vincent (November 26, 2019). "'A sin to be living this way': Conklin residents warn hamlet's housing crisis is getting worse". Fort McMurray Today. Retrieved 2022-07-12.
  7. ^ "CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2017 CAJ AWARDS FINALISTS!". Canadian Association of Journalists. March 29, 2018. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
  8. ^ Watson, H. G. (November 7, 2016). "Fort McMurray Today reducing print schedule". J-Source.ca.
  9. ^ The Canadian Press (January 18, 2023). "Postmedia moving 12 Alberta papers to digital-only, announces sale of Calgary Herald building". CBC News.