I’m the friend who brings up politics at dinner.
Occupational hazard, I suppose. I’ve spent much of my professional life working in campaigns, government, and public affairs. Naturally, I have questions, opinions, and usually one more thing to say before anyone can change the subject.
But the conversations that led me to start Sitka Media weren’t with political insiders. They were with friends who had thoughts about their mortgage, their kids’ schools, their businesses, and their communities — but very little interest in following the news.
Some didn’t trust it. Others didn’t feel it spoke to them. And plenty simply had other things to do.
These are smart, thoughtful individuals. Business owners, lawyers, teachers, nurses, tradespeople and those working in the service industry. They care deeply about the things happening around them. So why weren’t they engaged?
According to Elections BC’s preliminary results, turnout in the 2026 provincial election stood at just 48.14%, with approximately 1.8 million ballots counted. Mail-in and other absentee ballots have yet to be included, so that figure will change with the final count.
The most recent available age breakdown (from the 2024 election) highlights the disconnect among younger voters. Elections BC reported that participation was just 52.3% among registered voters aged 18 to 24 and 46.2% among those aged 25 to 34.
Those numbers are worth thinking about. We spend a lot of time talking about the issues affecting our province, debating political decisions and criticizing the people in charge — but how do we get more people interested enough to actually participate?
This is something I’ve thought about for years.
News and politics have always been a big part of my world. Over time, those conversations with friends made me wonder: do people just not care about what’s going on around them, or have we stopped giving them a reason to pay attention?
I think it’s the latter.
We all know how much the way people consume information has changed. We all scroll through our phones, watch short videos, listen to podcasts, and get a lot of our information through social media. Traditional news still matters, of course, but it’s no longer the only way people find out what’s happening in the world.
Too often, the conversation about younger generations starts with criticism. We hear that young people are disengaged, that they don’t read the news, don’t understand politics, or simply aren’t interested.
But I think we need to ask ourselves a different question. If people are consuming information differently, why are we so reluctant to change how we deliver it?
We can’t criticize younger generations for not consuming news the way previous generations did while refusing to get with the times. That doesn’t mean lowering journalistic standards or turning every issue into a 30-second TikTok. It means finding ways to make credible journalism accessible, interesting, and relevant in the places people are already spending their time.
There are people who understand this shift and are doing a really good job of adapting. One example I bring up quite often, to the amusement of our team, is Emily Lowan of the BC Greens.
I’m a big fan of Emily. I think she’s a fantastic communicator who punches above her weight in the political arena. She understands her audience, and her team knows how to reach them with content that gets people interested in issues that matter to them. She doesn’t expect younger people to find their way to traditional political communications. She takes the conversation to them.
You don’t have to agree with someone’s politics to recognize that they’re good at getting the message across. There’s something to learn from that. If we want more young people involved in public life, we need to meet them where they are and provide the information that matters to them.
That belief was a big part of why I wanted to launch Sitka Media.
But there was another reason. Through my own experience in politics, I’ve become increasingly concerned by how difficult it seems to have an honest conversation, especially when it involves questioning the people or parties we already support.
Somewhere along the way, disagreement started to feel like disloyalty. People became reluctant to question their own side, criticize a decision made by a party they support, or even read an opinion that challenges what they already believe.
I don’t think that’s healthy for our politics, our communities, or our democracy.
I want to read things I disagree with. I want to understand how someone else can arrive at a completely different conclusion than I do. I want to be challenged, reconsider my own assumptions, and understand the arguments being made on all sides.
Disagreement doesn’t have to mean hostility. Asking questions doesn’t make someone disloyal. And reading an opinion you disagree with doesn’t mean you have to change your mind. It gives you a chance to think more critically about why you believe what you believe.
I wanted Sitka Media to introduce readers to new ideas, different perspectives, and conversations they might not otherwise come across.
In January, I reached out to Jarryd Jäger.
I’d long been a fan of his work. Jarryd is a hustler. He has energy, curiosity, and a willingness to get out there and chase a story. I also couldn’t quite figure out where he stood on the political spectrum. To this day, I still don’t know.
I asked him for coffee without giving him any background on who I was or what I wanted to discuss. Within 15 minutes of meeting him, I said, “I have this idea, and I think you’d be the perfect guy to run it.” I think the offer caught him a little by surprise.
I have no background in journalism. I had an idea of what I wanted to build, and I knew I needed someone who understood the work. It took about a month of questions and conversations back and forth before he finally said, “I’m in.”
With Jarryd on board, I began raising capital and securing the seed investment to get Sitka Media off the ground.
That wasn’t easy. Many of the prospective investors I approached wanted a say in our editorial direction, but editorial independence was non-negotiable for both Jarryd and I. I wanted him to have oversight and final judgment on what we published. I’d asked him to run the publication, and that meant giving him the freedom to do it.
Finding the right person to help with seed investment took time, but it also brought me a mentor. We shared a belief that Canada is the best country in the world and that there is tremendous opportunity to build a more prosperous BC.
Our conversations kept returning to young people. Where were they in the discussion about its future? How could we get more of them involved?
Finding investment that respected that principle took work, but it mattered that we established it from the beginning. It remains our approach today: we’re open to funding and revenue opportunities that help Sitka Media grow and become financially sustainable, while editorial decisions remain independent. Financial and advertising support does not buy favourable coverage — or protection from scrutiny.
Just weeks after that first coffee, we officially launched, and quickly realized we were on to something.
In our first week, we published an opinion piece by Matt Kercher making the case in favour of DRIPA, an issue that has generated plenty of debate in BC.
A short time later, I was at a conference and ran into a Conservative MLA who told me he had read the piece. He didn’t agree with the argument, but thought it was very well written and said it helped him better understand the other side of the debate.
Our conversation stuck with me, because that’s exactly what good journalism and thoughtful commentary should do. You don’t have to agree with something to recognize its value. Sometimes the most worthwhile thing you can read is something that makes you stop and think.
We welcome opinion submissions from people across the political and ideological spectrum. We aren’t going to agree with every argument, and neither will our readers. A difference of opinion shouldn’t be a reason to dismiss a contribution. What matters is that it’s thoughtful, relevant, and meets our editorial standards.
In our first six months, our small but mighty team was thrown into the deep end with a party leadership race, a World Cup, overlapping municipal and provincial elections, and much more. They learned a tremendous amount along the way. It’s been a lot of work, and I’m proud of what we’ve created. I’m also proud to put my name behind it.
My hope is that Sitka Media gives people something worth reading, watching, questioning, and talking about — something that helps them feel a little more connected to the decisions shaping their lives, and a little more inclined to participate.
And if a Sitka Media story makes you the friend who brings up politics at dinner, welcome to the club.
Vesna Sertić is the founder of Sitka Media, which is an interesting career choice for someone who would prefer you didn’t know who she was. Happiest at home with her husband and three kids, she likes working behind the scenes and finds writing about herself deeply uncomfortable. She only wrote this bio because Jarryd made her.
