Citizen at 40: Harms takes Clinton as our newest correspondent
BY SCOTT STEPHENSON
Sometimes, a correspondent for The Citizen is a fresh set of eyes.
Jemima Harms’ adventures as Clinton-centric correspondent began when her column debuted in the Sept. 19 issue of the paper.
The story of The Citizen’s newest newshound begins far from Lake Huron, in Schramberg, Germany, where she spent her early childhood. She admits that it’s given her a proclivity for small-town kinship. “The town I grew up in Germany was also very, very small, so I have a fond place in my heart for small towns,” she explained. “You’ll talk to someone, and they’ll mention Greg, and suddenly you realize you both know Greg! It’s that kind of small-world charm. There was a regional paper that covered our area,” she recalled. “I think it was called the Schwarzwälder Bote - ‘Black Forest Messenger.’ Kind of like how Clinton doesn’t have its own locally-owned paper, but it is part of The Citizen.”
She spent most of her adolescence in Kelowna, British Columbia, and decided to pursue a degree in Industrial Labour Relations from McGill University in Montreal. “McGill doesn’t have a proper creative writing major - otherwise, I probably would’ve done that,” Harms mused. “So I took a few classes on the side. One of them was creative nonfiction, which is the closest you’ll get to journalism… That’s where a significant chunk of my writing experience comes from. I like continuing to use my writing skills for something beyond just school assignments - something a bit more creative and interesting.”
And what brought Harms to Clinton? It’s horses, of course! “I’ve always wanted to work with horses,” she told The Citizen. “I had a horse phase when I was about six, and I never really grew out of it!” That passion led her to the University of Guelph’s Equine Care and Management program, offered in collaboration with the REACH Centre. “It’s unique because you don’t need a lot of experience to get in. You just need to show up and do the work, which worked for me.”
Her lifelong affection for horses remains steady. “Every time I volunteered at barns or took riding lessons, I loved it more. Horses always calmed me down,” she said. “They’re big, and yes, they can hurt you if you’re not careful. But their strength isn’t usually directed at you... That combination of power and gentleness was, and still is, really captivating to me.”
It was while she was pursuing her passion for horses that the fates converged. While reading at the local library, she came across The Citizen’s ad calling for a new, Clinton-based correspondent. She decided to give it a try. “And here I am!” Harms announced.
Since joining the paper, she’s found herself more deeply woven into Clinton life. “It’s kind of forced me to go out and do something every week, to find a story,” she said. “Otherwise, maybe I’d have just been like, ‘Oh, this weekend, I’ll stay home and not do anything.’ But now, I need something to write about... It pushes me out of the little habits you fall into quickly. And I do like using the excuse of journalism to eat in new places, I have to admit! I can be like, ‘I need to try out this restaurant because I need to write about it.’ It’s an excellent excuse - I do love good food.”
Harms may be new to writing community news, but she can already see how much it matters. “I think it’s really easy to get caught up in world news and forget what’s happening around you,” she said. “You’re either focused on big cities doing big things, or on tragedies happening far away... Community news scales things down. It brings problems and stories back to the human level.”
As both a writer and a reader, Harms believes journalism should retain its heart. “We always push for objectivity, but there’s also space for journalism that has a voice, that shows a bit of the writer,” she explained. “Especially when telling stories about people, that human element makes it compelling.”
And if she has one wish for The Citizen, it’s that it remains true to its roots. “‘I hope it continues to exist in print... There’s something comforting and nostalgic about holding a physical newspaper,” she said. “More than that, I hope it continues to be interested in people’s stories. That’s the heart of it - continue to be interested in people’s stories!’”
And you can quote her on that.