About PG Unspun

Why it exists

Local news matters most where there is least of it, and Prince George has fewer places to argue about its own affairs every year. Newsrooms have shrunk, and much of what remains arrives already shaped: press releases lightly rewritten, council decisions reported as announced, the same story running unchanged across a string of sister sites, official statements passed along without the follow-up question that would test them. That is less a failing of reporters than of the resources left to them, but the effect on readers is the same. Coverage tells you what was said, not whether it holds up.

Comment sections have narrowed alongside the newsrooms. Readers have increasingly found their contributions turned down without explanation — sharpest on the stories where the questions are hardest and the appetite for public disagreement seems thinnest. The places where a missing question might have been asked are closing too.

A comment section that quietly discards what it dislikes teaches people that the disagreement was never wanted. That is a worse outcome than a difficult argument conducted in the open. PG Unspun exists to ask the questions the coverage leaves out, and to keep that argument open.

What this site does

Each entry in the ledger is a short account of a story, with a link to read the original at its source. We do not reproduce other outlets' articles — reporting costs money to produce, and the people who produced it should get the traffic and the credit. Follow the link.

Alongside each summary we add our own context: what the story leaves out, questions it doesn't answer, or reporting we think is missing — then open it to comment.

Some entries are marked Original. Those are written here rather than summarized from elsewhere. We expect that category to grow: alongside commentary on other outlets' coverage, PG Unspun will publish its own original investigative reporting on local issues.

We're aiming for one to two pieces a week. That's a target, not a guarantee — some weeks will have more, some less, depending on what's happening locally.

PG Unspun also accepts original submissions from readers — reporting, analysis, or informed opinion on Prince George. See Write for us for details.

How moderation works here

Comments are read before they appear. Criticism is welcome, including criticism of this site. When a comment is turned down it does not vanish. A notice stays in the thread recording that a comment was withheld and the reason it was withheld, so the decision can be judged even though the text is not published.

Every moderation decision is written to an internal log that records who acted, on what, when, and why. The full rules are on the moderation policy page.

How corrections work here

Published pieces get things wrong sometimes, and the fix has to be as visible as the mistake. When a factual error in a published piece is corrected, the correction is appended openly at the bottom of the piece — noting what was wrong, what has changed, and when — rather than silently edited away. The original text is not quietly rewritten to erase that a mistake was made.

Corrections and complaints go to the contact and corrections page. We would rather hear that we got something wrong than leave it standing.

Who runs it

PG Unspun is written and edited in Prince George, British Columbia, by NJ Perham, who lives and works in the city. NJ Perham is a pen name, drawn from the author's initials and middle name. Letters under it have appeared in the Prince George Citizen. The site is independent of the Citizen and of every other outlet whose reporting it summarizes.

Funding: PG Unspun receives no outside funding, carries no advertising, and is not sponsored by any individual, business, or organization.

Why a pen name

I would like the writing to be judged on what it says, not on who readers think the author is. That kind of impression often comes from a photograph, a social media profile, or a passing acquaintance, and it arrives before a single sentence has been read. A pen name keeps the focus on the content.

That said, I understand a small number of readers want to know who is behind what they are reading before they trust it. If that is you, get in touch through the contact page and we can arrange to talk, by phone or in person.

The pen name is not a shield from accountability. Every piece carries sources a reader can check for themselves, corrections are published at the foot of the piece they correct, and the contact address is read by the person who writes here.

Conflicts of interest

PG Unspun holds no office and is not a candidate for one. Neither the site nor its author:

• is employed by, contracted to, or seeking work with the City of Prince George, any of its departments, or any other local public body;
• has a family or household connection to a member of council, a candidate, or a member of city staff;
• belongs to, donates to, campaigns for, or holds any position in a political party, elector organization, or third-party sponsor;
• holds a financial interest in, or a business relationship with, any local business, developer, or contractor named or discussed here;
• accepts advertising, sponsorship, gifts, hospitality, or payment of any kind from anyone written about on this site.

Where any connection does exist — a friendship, a past dealing, a shared membership, anything a reader might reasonably want to weigh when judging a piece — it is stated in that piece, in a note at the top, rather than left for someone else to find. If one comes to light after publication, it is added as a correction. We would rather declare a connection that turns out to be irrelevant than leave one unsaid.

This is a standing declaration, not a one-off. If any of it stops being true, this page changes and the change is noted in the piece it affects.

Social media

PG Unspun publishes only on this website. We keep a small number of accounts elsewhere, used solely to share our articles and answer questions; any account we use is listed below. We have no other social media presence, and any account claiming to represent PG Unspun that is not listed here is not affiliated with or endorsed by us.

Accounts we use:

• Facebook — facebook.com/pgunspun
• Reddit — u/PGUnspun