ABORIGINAL PRESENCE IN THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA:
ISSUES AND JOURNALISTS
A Thesis
Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for a Special Case Master of Arts Degree
in Indigenous Studies
University of Regina
by
Alethea A. Foster, B.J.
Regina, Saskatchewan
April, 2008
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FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES AND RESEARCH
SUPERVISORY AND EXAMINING COMMITTEE
Alethea A. Foster, candidate for the degree of Special Case Master of Arts degree in Indigenous Studies, has presented a thesis titled, Aboriginal Presence in the Mainstream Media: Issues and Journalists, in an oral examination held on January 25, 2008. The following committee members have found the thesis acceptable in form and content, and that the candidate demonstrated satisfactory knowledge of the subject material.
External Examiner: Dr. Lorna F. Roth, Concordia University
Co-Supervisor: Dr. David R. Miller, Department of Indigenous Studies
Co-Supervisor: Professor Shannon Avison, Department of Indigenous Studies
Committee Member: Dr. Margaret Wigmore, Department of English
Chair of Defense: Dr. Linda Goulet, Department of Indigenous Education ABSTRACT
The Aboriginal population is the fastest growing segment of the Canadian population. According to the 2001 census, there are 976,305 Aboriginal people in
Canada. Most of those, almost 609,000, are First Nations, 292,305 are Metis and the rest are Inuit. In Saskatchewan, Aboriginal people made up 13.52 percent of the population in 2001 and if current trends continue it is anticipated that the Aboriginal population will grow to 33 percent by 2045.
However, it is generally accepted that First Nations people and issues are not well understood by the general public. Since many non-First Nations people have little day to day contact with First Nations people, most of what they do know about Aboriginal issues and people comes through the mainstream media. Therefore, if people have misunderstandings the media is at the very least partially to blame. We live in a society that is strongly influenced by an environment in which the mass media plays a crucial
and often decisive role in the enhancement or the destruction of the images of "other" peoples.
This thesis critically examines the power of the media, how the mainstream media
covers minority issues with a particular focus on First Nation issues; what role First
Nations journalists play in that coverage and to what degree the coverage is negotiated or
dictated. While a small but growing body of literature exists regarding the mainstream
media and Aboriginal issues, most of the discourse in this area comes together with an
examination of other minorities.
In particular the thesis will examine the coverage of Aboriginal issues, focusing
on the observations of six Aboriginal journalists in Saskatchewan. This approach
i provides a voice to perceptions that thus far have been limited and sparse and intersects those perceptions with the academic discourse surrounding the issue. The views of the journalists will be used to buttress existing literature on mass media and minorities issues.
These journalists agree on many things: that the coverage of Aboriginal issues in the mainstream media is lacking and that it is improving, they believe that more
Aboriginal journalists and gatekeepers are needed in the media, and they believe that other reporters and gatekeepers require more education regarding Aboriginal issues in order to improve coverage.
ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to acknowledge and extend my appreciation to Dr. David R. Miller and Professor Shannon Avison of the First Nations University of Canada for their support, advice and patience in the production of this thesis. I would also like to extend my thanks and appreciation to Dr. Margaret Wigmore of the University of Regina's
English Department for her help in clarifying and finalizing the material.
I thank the journalists who agreed to be interviewed for this thesis; Betty Ann
Adam, Nelson Bird, Mervin Brass, Doug Cuthand, Merelda Fiddler and Michelle Hugh who shared their thoughts and hopes with me. Without their candid and open sharing of information, I could not have completed this project and their input was invaluable in keeping me from giving up.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge the financial assistance of an unsolicited
University of Regina Academic Scholarship and appointments such as a teaching
assistant at the First Nations University of Canada which enabled me to complete my
studies. I would also like to acknowledge the Government of Saskatchewan, my
employer, for its support of my pursuit of further higher learning. ABORIGINAL PRESENCE IN THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA: ISSUES AND JOURNALISTS TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF TABLES vi LIST OF DEFINITIONS AND ACRONYMS vii
Chapter 1 POWER AND IMPACT OF THE MEDIA: INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Research Problem 6 1.2 Research Question 7 1.3 Significance of the Contribution 7 1.4 Review of the Literature 8 1.5 Methodological Approach 16
Chapter 2 THEORETICAL APPROACHES 19 2.1 Hegemony and Cultural Studies 20 2.2 Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies 25
Chapter 3 THROUGH THE LENS OF THE ABORIGINAL JOURNALIST 29 3.1 Betty Ann Adam 29 3.2 Nelson Bird 31 3.3 Mervin Brass 33 3.4 Doug Cuthand 36 3.5 Merelda Fiddler 38 3.6 Michelle Hugh 40 3.7 Reflecting on the Journalists 42
Chapter 4 MEDIA IN CANADA 44 4.1 Legislation 45 4.2 Media Ownership 47 4.3 Multiculturalism and Diversity 51
Chapter 5 WHAT MAKES NEWS 54 5.1 Selecting News 60 5.2 Audience 62
Chapter 6 DELIVERING THE NEWS 66 6.1 Gatekeepers 68 6.2 Hiring Practices 70
iv Chapter 7 MINORITY COVERAGE IN MAINSTREAM MEDIA 79 7.1 Stereotyping 83 7.2 Whitecentrism 88 7.3 Racism 91 7.4 Crime 93 7.5 Case Studies 96
Chapter 8 CONTENT ANALYSIS 102 8.1 Residential Schools Feature 103 8.2 Regina Leader-Post - A Content Analysis 106 8.3 The Ramsay Coverage 122
Chapter 9 CONCLUSION 125
BIBLIOGRAPHY 131 APPENDIX A: QUESTIONS SUBMITTED TO ETHICS BOARD 150 APPENDIX B: ETHICS BOARD APPROVAL 152 APPENDIX C: CONTENT ANALYSIS GUIDELINES 153
V LIST OF TABLES
Table 1 - Focus of Story 109
Table 2 - Tone of Story 109
vi DEFINITIONS AND ACRONYNS
ASNE American Society of Newspaper Editors.
Blog Blog is the short form of referring to Web logs. Blogs are Web pages containing the personal views and links expressing the opinions and observations of a particular individual. Blogs can also include arms of political campaigns, media programs and corporations. Many web logs allow visitors to leave comments that can lead to the development of a community of readers centered on a topic. Some bloggers are journalists or consider themselves journalists.
First Nation First Nation is a respectful alternative to the term Indian that is the preferred choice of representatives of Indian people. It is also used as a term to substitute for the term Band in referring to Aboriginal groups formally recognized by the federal government under the Indian Act of 1876.
FSIN Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations.
Gatekeeper Media personnel such as editors and producers who decide what news stories are assigned, which are omitted and where the stories are placed. They have the power to keep the gate open and allow the news through or close the gate and keep the news away from the public.
INCA Indian Communication Arts program. This is a journalism program offered at the First Nations University of Canada in Regina.
Mass Media This thesis uses the mass media and mainstream media interchangeably to refer to newspapers, magazines, television and radio. The internet does not form a major study area of this paper. In addition, while media is the plural of the word medium, according to the Canadian Oxford Dictionary (1998), the use of the word with a singular verb is now fairly well established. For the purposes of this paper, 'mass media' and 'media' will be used as mass nouns with singular verbs.
SIFC Saskatchewan Indian Federated College.
RCAP Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples.
vn 1 CHAPTER ONE POWER AND IMPACT OF THE MEDIA: INTRODUCTION
Each day Canadians are bombarded with messages and images from newspapers, magazines, television, radio, the internet and other forms of mass communication. The mass media comes into our homes, it is part of our everyday lives and has become a
staple that most people would not relinquish, even if they could. The long arm of the
mass media is inescapable.
According to some statistics, the average Canadian spends about seven hours a
day with mass communications media (Hackett, Pinet and Ruggles, 1996: 257). As many
as three-and-a-half hours are devoted to watching TV alone each day. By the age of
three, more than half of all children watch TV regularly. In fact, children spend more
time watching TV and listening to popular music than they spend in school (Martin,
1997: 2). This should come as no surprise, given that virtually all Canadian homes have
at least one television (Siegel, 1996: 2). A 2003 survey of Canadians showed that 39
percent feel their use of the mainstream media had increased over the previous few years
(Canadian Association of Broadcasters, 2003: 8). These statistics demonstrate that most
people receive the majority of their information about important issues affecting their
lives such as politics, crime, health and education from the mass media.
In 1922 communications commentator, Walter Lippman, predicted that the mass
media would become the basis for people's view of the world. It appears that he was
prescient. The mass media has become a major transmitter of society's cultural
standards, myths, values, roles and images (Henry, Tator, Mattis and Rees, 2002: 296).
Mass media representations are now generally accepted as vehicles through which the 2 power structure of a society is reproduced and reinforced (Fleras and Kuntz 2001: vii;
Hall, 1980a: 117; Kellner and Durham, 2001: 1). In this sense, mass media content helps to justify the distribution of power and influence in society and at the same time contributes to the acceptance of existing inequalities (Allan, 1999: 83). Media discourses not only represent social groups, they also help to construct those social groups. It is a main contention of this thesis that media representations can be viewed as ideology.
Ideology is, in effect, those beliefs, perceptions, assumptions, and values that give us an understanding and explanation of our world (Henry and Tator, 2002: 20).
As such, one of the first and most important assumptions about the mass media is that it has a significant and substantial effect on people (Perse, 2001: 3). This assumption is not difficult to grasp given the wide reach and pervasiveness of mass media representations. "How we dress for work, sometimes the route we take to work, what we plan to do this weekend, our general feelings of well-being or insecurity, the focus of our attention toward the world beyond immediate experience, and our concerns about the issues of the day are all influenced by the news" (McCombs, 1994: 1). This influence places a great importance on the quality of information people receive and makes the mainstream mass media not just a conduit of news, information, and entertainment, but also an institution in its own right (Nancoo and Nancoo, 1996: 30). Together with other powerful elite groups and institutions, such as politicians and corporate managers, the media is accepted as having the most influence on the lives of most people in society
(Van Dijk, 2000: 36). There is nothing intrinsically wrong with getting knowledge and information from the media; the problem arises when the messages provided are inaccurate or incomplete. "If readers and viewers are given misleading or distorted 3 pictures of a group - or no pictures at all - they will have little opportunity to develop insights into the group or to help form sensible public policies concerning the group"
(Keever, Martindale and Weston, 1997: 346). Some suggest that the media not only plays an essential role in reflecting our culture to us but that it also helps to create the culture in the first place. "Communication is much more than cultural glue holding a geographically vast country together. Through identifying with the images and cultural narratives that dominate our ways of seeing and representing the world, we actually construct who we are" (RCAP, 1996. vol. 3: 621).
The power and influence of the media is further intensified in relation to the understanding of Aboriginal people. Many Canadians do not have direct regular contact, with Aboriginal people so their knowledge is primarily based on secondhand information received from the mainstream media (RCAP vol. 5, 1996: 103). This phenomenon is true not just in terms of knowledge and understanding of Aboriginal people but also of minorities. In fact, many Canadians are generally isolated from people who have ethnic or cultural backgrounds different from the mainstream, resulting in understandings that are largely filled with perceptions, assumptions, values, and beliefs of journalists and other media professionals (Henry, Tator, Mattis and Rees, 2000: 297). It stands to reason that if a person does not have first-hand knowledge of a particular ethnic group; media representations become instrumental in how that person perceives the group (Grossberg,
Wartella and Whitney, 1998: 221). This makes the media representations crucial to the understanding of diversity.
While the role of the mass media is immensely important, it is also seen as generally conservative and protective of the status quo. The media for the most part tends 4 to absorb and reflect values and ideas of the dominant society in which it operates, and reinforces and legitimizes existing arrangements (Everett and Fletcher, 1995: 241).
Under these circumstances, people and organizations outside the dominant group can find it difficult to get their voices heard.
In Canada the media is traditionally seen as an essential component of representative democracy and a crucial instrument in promoting national unity and identity. Despite these heavy responsibilities, when the media addresses Aboriginal issues the impressions it leaves are often distorted. This distortion occurs despite the unique relationship between Aboriginal people and the Canadian state, which stems from the fact that Aboriginal people are indigenous to Canada. As an example, the Canadian
Constitution Act, 1982 upholds the existence of Aboriginal rights.
This Chapter, Introduction, opened with a discussion of the power and impact of the media as the basis of providing context about the media's importance to society's understanding of Aboriginal people. It will go on to provide a review of the literature in this area. The literature chosen is wide in scope, dealing with issues including media history, media hiring practices, media-related legislation and Aboriginal and minority coverage in the mainstream media. The Introduction will also detail the methodology utilized for the thesis, which ranges from reviewing scholarly treatises, to the conducting of interviews with six Aboriginal journalists in Saskatchewan and a content analysis of the Regina Leader-Post. Chapter 2, Theoretical Approaches, examines general media theory and details the concept of cultural studies which is chosen as the anchor for this discussion. 5 Chapter 3, Through the Lens ofAboriginalJournalists, introduces the six
Aboriginal journalists whose voices are heard throughout this thesis. It provides background on each one including their overall perspectives on the Aboriginal issues in the mainstream media. The six journalists chosen are arguably the most influential
Aboriginal journalists in Saskatchewan and their voices are the essence of this thesis.
Chapter 4, Media in Canada, includes the history, appropriate legislation and
issues surrounding media ownership, which have helped and continue to help shape the
form and content of media in Canada is provided. Chapter 5, What Makes News,
examines how news is structured and gathered by journalists, how decisions are made regarding what stories get covered, and also outlines what audience research reveals
about how people regard that news. Chapter 6, Delivering the News, explains the role of journalists in the production of the news as well as the presence of Aboriginal journalists
in the newsrooms of the country. This chapter also examines hiring practices in the media, including issues such as employment equity.
Chapter 7, Minority Coverage in the Mainstream, examines how the media covers
Aboriginal and minority issues and the problems that are commonly present such as
stereotyping and whitecentrism. Chapter 8, Content Analysis, examines content analysis
as a research tool and includes original analysis done by the author of the Regina Leader-
Post over a two-month span related to its coverage of Aboriginal issues.
The final chapter, Chapter 9, Media Impact: Concluding Reflections, outlines why
the current representations of Aboriginal people in the mainstream mass media tend to be
problematic, and what changes are required to improve the situation. This thesis 6 juxtaposes theory and scholarly work, together with the voices of First Nations and
Metis journalists who work in the mainstream media news on a daily basis.
1.1 Research Problem
Aboriginal people are the fastest growing segment of the Canadian population.
Saskatchewan, a province with an already large Aboriginal population, is no exception.
According to the 2001 census, the Aboriginal population in the province was about
130,000, or approximately 13.5 percent of the total population. If current trends continue, the Aboriginal population in Saskatchewan is expected to reach 33 percent by 2040.
Some suggest that the census figures and trends are on the conservative side. Research
done for the Saskatchewan Institute of Public Policy by University of Saskatchewan
Professor Eric Howe suggests that by 2050 at least half the province's population could be Aboriginal (Howe, 2006: 4). Despite the potential of this rapid growth, the issues that
affect the lives of Aboriginal people are not well understood by the general public which
leads to misunderstandings and tensions. These tensions will only grow as the Aboriginal
population grows, unless actions are taken now to resolve the situation. Media
representations are in part responsible for the misunderstandings and tensions. We live in
a society that is strongly influenced by an environment in which the mass media plays a
crucial role in the enhancement or destruction of images of people and issues. In many
cases, this environment results in media messages and images that are a disservice to
Aboriginal people, as well as to the non-Aboriginal people who depend on the mass
media for a large portion of their information about Aboriginal people. 7
1.2 Research Question
There is no doubt about the importance of the mainstream mass media in informing the public about Aboriginal people and minority issues. In the face of that important societal responsibility, this thesis addresses the question of how the mainstream media covers Aboriginal issues in the news and the perceptions of Aboriginal journalists about that coverage. It will outline how the mainstream media covers Aboriginal issues, what factors influence that coverage, what role Aboriginal journalists play in the media and to what degree the coverage is negotiated or dictated.
Considerable thought was given to whether a full discussion of media coverage of
Aboriginal issues in the Canadian mainstream media could be conducted without reference to the situation facing minorities in Canada. For a number of reasons, the conclusion was that it would not be possible. One reason is that the academic literature surrounding Canadian Aboriginal issues in the mainstream media without reference to other ethnic groups is limited. A small and growing body of material exists regarding the mainstream media and Aboriginal issues, but much of the discourse in this area comes together with examination of minorities not only in Canada but also in the United States.
Another reason for including discussion of other ethnic media issues is that in many cases the findings are similar.
1.3 Significance of the Contribution
Within the literature related to Aboriginal coverage in the mainstream media, the input of Aboriginal journalists, while present, is rare and sometimes dated. The voices usually heard are primarily academic, which makes the voices of the six journalists portrayed in this thesis, unique, insightful and extremely valuable to the study of mass 8 media and Aboriginal people. This thesis presents a comprehensive and detailed account of the views of these journalists and places them in the context of the existing scholarly research in this area. Their voices paint a largely unseen picture of the nature of mainstream media coverage of Aboriginal issues to Aboriginal people. From their vantage points the Aboriginal journalists interviewed speak with unique perspectives that provide important insights on what is working, what is not, why it is not, and how to make improvements.
1.4 Review of the Literature
There is a vast and growing body of literature related to the political, cultural, social and economic history of Aboriginal Canadians; however there is significantly less literature specifically dedicated to the mainstream mass media history and Aboriginal
Canadians. The key authors in the literature review of this thesis in this area include Alia,
1999; Cottle, 2000; Ericson, Baranek and Chan; Fleras, 2000: Fleras and Kuntz, 2001;
Hachey and Grenier, 1992; Henry and Tator, 2001; Henry, Mattis and Rees, 2000;
Johansen, 1997; Khaki and Prasad; Mahtani, 2001; Ponting, 1998; Roth, 1996; Samuel and Schachhuber, 2000; Valaskakis, 1996 and the research of the Royal Commission on
Aboriginal Peoples. The literature for the most part suggests that Aboriginal people are too often portrayed negatively: as victims or perpetrators of crime, as negative stereotypes, and usually speaking or reacting to issues specifically related to Aboriginal people (Gandy, 1998; Khaki and Prasad, 1988; Fleras and Kuntz, 2001; Johansen, 1997;
Henry, 2002; Henry, Mattis and Rees, 2000; Miller, 1997; Ungerleider, 1991; Valaskakis,
1996; Keever, Martindale and Weston, 1997; Wilson and Gutierrez, 1985). 9 Clint Wilson and Felix Gutierrez (1985: 147) in Minorities and the Media: Diversity
and the End of Mass Communication argue that incorrect information regarding
minorities is processed and filtered through the mass media that is almost entirely made
up of the social majority that has no understanding of the minorities in question. Other
scholars such as Khaki and Prasad (1988: 31) and Augie Fleras and Jean Lock Kunz
(2001: 157-58) agree. Fleras and Kunz (2001: 46) and Law (2002: 25-6) describe the
situation as one in which most reporters come from and represent the dominant group in
society and use a 'prism of whiteness' to filter all news which results in the reporters judging all incidents by white dominant standards and producing skewed versions of the
news. These accusations suggest that in western societies, whiteness is the 'natural' way
of being (Dyer, 1997: 3: Zack 1998: 61).
One result of this type of reporting is negative stereotyping which not only
contributes to the misunderstanding of non-Aboriginal people of Aboriginal issues, but is
also hurtful to Aboriginal people who are forced to view and hear the same negative
images and stories that others are (Ponting, 1998: 281). The result of stereotyping is the
identification of people who are considered normal, and the identification of those who
can be considered "other" (Hall, 1997: 259).
The media in Canada is seen as an essential component of our democracy and a
crucial instrument in the promotion of national unity and identity. The generally accepted
approach to Canadian unity makes it difficult for those outside the political mainstream to
receive media coverage of their particular issues, except under unusual circumstances
(Everett and Fletcher, 1995: 241; Fleras, 1995: 407; Fleras and Kuntz, 2001: 1-2; Gordon,
Kittross and Reuss, 1996). In this sense, it is argued that the media fails to reflect the true 10 diversity of Canada, in part because diversity threatens the existing distribution of political and economic power and prestige (Fleras and Kunz, 2001: 22; Ungerleider,
1991: np). A 1994 study by the Canadian Newspaper Association determined that managing and covering diversity was not a key concern of editors and publishers.
Managing diversity came 19th on a list of 21 priorities (Canadian Newspaper
Association, 1994: np).
Issues related to racism have been identified as one of the possible reasons for negative minority coverage in the mainstream media. Some scholars, (Van Dijk, 1993:
241; Van Dijk, 2000: 5; Fleras and Kunz, 2001: 86: Hall, 1996c: 340; Meadows, 2001:
165) posit that the media plays a key role in the reproduction of images that result in stereotyping. Research done by Hall, Critcher, Jefferson, Clarke and Roberts (1978: 21) into British society in the 1970s suggests that the British media followed the lead of
American media coverage of problems related to race and crime. Since racism exists in society, it stands to reason that it would also be represented in mass media stories (Corea,
1995: 353; Meadows, 2001: 165); however this does not necessarily mean that the media is racist. Fleras and Kunz (2001a) suggest that while the media is not racist in an overt, intentional sense, it carries a bias that arises from coverage of Aboriginal people that conforms to Western definitions of news, and conflicts with Aboriginal realities (Fleras and Kunz, 2001: 29-32).
The very nature of news and the principles of journalism that are used to define news as we know it also contribute to the inequitable treatment of Aboriginal people in the media. One reason is the use of the principle of objectivity which requires reporters to be neutral observers of events and convey the description of those events to the 11 audience exactly as they appeared. This is designed to ensure that the stories are presented in a fair and balanced fashion. While this is a laudable principle and a professional and ethical approach to news, it is much easier to define than it is to achieve.
Objectivity is elusive, in that no individual can be truly detached from an event because the story is always being filtered through his or her perceptions. In addition, when a journalist is dealing with a culture which interprets situations differently from his or her own, if that journalist is unaware of the culture, then the interpretations will be at best problematic and at worst misleading or even completely inaccurate. Getting two sides to a story is also a common practice by journalists attempting to present stories in an objective fashion. An underlying concept is that every story has two sides, and if both those sides are presented then the story is balanced. However, stories often have more than two sides and, in addition, if the two sides portrayed by the journalists come from representatives of the dominant culture, then that does not necessarily promote real understanding of an issue.
Many scholars, and this author, are of the view that a major stumbling block to
fairly representing Aboriginal views and minority stories in the mainstream mass media is
that there are too few Aboriginal journalists and other minority journalists working in the mainstream media (Campbell, 1995: 31; Cottle, 2000: 19; 1988; Van Dijk, 1993: 244;
Wilson and Gutierrez, 1985: 167). For some, this results in racism, for others, it results in
whitecentrism and at the very least it contributes in a lack of awareness and understanding
of Aboriginal issues. This is not to suggest that non-Aboriginal journalists are unable to
properly cover Aboriginal stories, or that all Aboriginal journalists will necessarily do a
good job. Hall (1996b: 445) makes a similar argument when he suggested that not all 12 black people are good, nor are all black people the same. In fact he suggested that
there is an element of racism in thinking that way.
There is no doubt that the number of Aboriginal journalists in Canadian newsrooms is
lacking. A 1994 survey of Canadian daily newspapers showed that of 2,260 employees in
the newsrooms, only four were Aboriginal. A 2000 study produced by Quebec's Laval
University showed that 97.3 percent of Canadian journalists are white and according to a
study produced at Ryerson University in Toronto, the number of people from diverse
backgrounds working for media outlets has only increased from about 2.6 percent to 3.4
percent in the last ten years. There is clearly a disconnect between the newsrooms of the
country and Canadian society as a whole, both in terms of Aboriginal and minority journalists. The six Aboriginal reporters interviewed for this thesis certainly share this
perspective in relation to the hiring of Aboriginal journalists.
In the mainstream mass media, journalists make daily decisions related to the stories
that are told, the voices that are heard, and interpret various situations through sequencing
and arranging (Patterson, 1998: 17; Robinson and Charron, 1989: 152). Since most journalists in Canada represent the dominant Canadian society, they are often white,
middle-class and have little inside knowledge of minority communities.
In Canada, a lack of Aboriginal, minority and other disadvantaged employees in the
workforce is recognized by many people and organizations (Abella, 1987: 3; Henry and
Tator, 2002: 94-5; Kranz, 2002: 23). One of the established and accepted reasons for the
disparity is systemic racism which refers to discrimination that is not typically a
conscious decision, but rather unintentional and ingrained. Since Canadian systems were
not built to discriminate, steps were taken to correct the situation. Over the years, various 13 pieces of legislation such as the Multiculturalism Act, Employment Equity Acts, Human
Rights Codes, as well as policies and programs to deal with systemic discrimination in the
workforce as a whole have been developed and enacted.
All or parts of these laws, policies and programs deal with attempts to make recruitment, hiring, promotion and earnings more equitable and to accommodate those
who have been most commonly excluded who have been identified as visible minorities,
Aboriginal people, women and the disabled. Employment equity in particular is designed
to ensure that no person is denied opportunities for reasons that have nothing to do with a
basic ability to do the job (Abella, 1987: 2). Despite these measures, it is obvious that
hiring practices have yet to result in Aboriginals and minorities being represented in the
Canadian workforce in the same proportions in which they exist in the general society.
Ownership and structure of communication corporations also has an impact on the
hiring of Aboriginal journalists. Less than a dozen huge corporations now control a very
large share of the enterprises that produce information and entertainment on a global
level, and it is argued that these corporations are not overly interested in promoting a
diversity of ideas, democratic principles, or equality of ideas or employees. Instead, a
main interest is to maximize profits for the owners and shareholders (Bagdikian, 1992:
201; Everett and Fletcher, 1995: 238; Herman and Chomsky, 2001: 283; Martin, 1997:
61-62; Schiller, 1989: 28). In the midst of this growing concentration of ownership,
Canada is now home to one of the most concentrated media and telecommunications
systems in the world. Herman and McChesney (1997: 1) suggest that this kind of
concentrated media ownership represents a "clear and present danger" to the participation 14 of people in public affairs, understanding of public issues, and the effective working of a democracy.
The quest for profits creates unique problems for the mainstream mass media, because media corporations are complex and complicated operations which are in the business of distributing culture and politics (Bagdikian, 2004; 260-61; Gomery, 2000:
508; Vipond, 2000: 85). Critics suggest that since the mass media is credited with reflecting culture to people and helping to create that culture in the first place, a broad cross-section of the public should own that valuable resource. Many working journalists agree and perceive very real problems with concentrated media ownership. A survey of newspaper reporters in February 2003 showed that 86 percent were of the opinion that the greater the concentration of ownership, the lower the quality of newspaper content; and
92 percent said that the owners of the newspapers that they work for wanted to see their own views and interests reflected in the papers that they owned (Soroka and Fournier,
2003: np). These views support the well-known quote from U.S. media critic, A. J.
Leibling: "freedom of the press belongs to the man that owns one" (as quoted in Taras,
1990: 9).
The concern over concentrated media ownership is not universal. There are scholars who suggest that this type of ownership is required to provide consumers with the media products that they are demanding in terms of information and entertainment and which smaller media outlets are incapable of providing. The argument relates to economies of scale in which it makes good business sense to have large media operations because media production is very expensive and the larger the operation, the cheaper it is to produce material. Supporters of concentrated media ownership also argue that not only 15 do the owners of these large media conglomerates have the best interests of the public at heart but that they are far removed from the day-to-day operations of their outlets, leaving the daily operations and decisions in the hands of others (Demers, 1999: 45).
In dealing with First Nations issues in the mainstream mass media, there are several major stories which serve as particular examples of the media's difficulties in covering
Aboriginal issues. One of those is the Oka crisis of 1990 where the media images focused predominantly on conflict and confrontation (Fleras and Kunz, 2001: 81; Switzer,
1999a: 166; Valaskakis, 1998: 4). The underlying historical issues regarding Aboriginal claims at Oka were literally ignored. These critics do not deny that violence was a part of the Oka story, but they argue that the media approach provided little or no real context.
The theoretical literature regarding study of the mass media is rich. There are many different potential approaches espoused by different scholars. One examined and discarded as the grounding approach for this research was that of Jurgen Habermas
(1962) and his concept of public spheres. Habermas's public sphere represents a realm of social life in which something approaching public opinion can be formed and where access to the discussion is guaranteed to all citizens (Habermas, 2001). He considered the public sphere critical in movements towards democracy because democratic society depends on an informed public making choices. Habermas claimed that capitalistic forms of media organization distorted the development of the public sphere to the point that society was unable to establish the process of dialogue and collective self-reflection. His theories have served as the framework for various and varying discussions (Avison, 1996;
Boyd-Barrett, 1995a; Curran, 1991; Fraser, 1993; Hallin, 1994; Seidman, 1989; Sparks,
1992). Over the years, Habermas's theory has been refined, but, if taken to the extreme, 16 it would mean that if the media does a poor job then people will be ignorant and a small elite will control decision-making on most political matters.
While Habermas posed an interesting theoretical concept on which to base this thesis, it became clear that the concept of 'cultural studies', which examines how reality can be studied through language, discourse, representations and images best complemented this research (Durham and Kellner, 2001; Hall, 1995; 1996b, 1996c; Silverblatt, Ferry and
Finan, 1999; Van Dijk, 1991,2001). Using this concept, the mainstream mass media plays a key role in providing images that allow the powerful to stay in power and those without power to accept the status quo (Silverblatt, Ferry and Finan, 1999: 4). The notion is that media institutions reproduce the values and attitudes of hegemonic institutions by producing and reproducing the dominant values of the dominant people in society, which most people learn to accept as common sense, or what could be considered normal.
1.5 Methodological Approach
The research methodology utilized for this research project encompasses three main elements. The first is an examination of academic literature in books and journals related to issues including the power and impact of the mainstream mass media, First Nations and minority media coverage and racism. The second and arguably most important element is found in the perceptions of six Saskatchewan Aboriginal journalists which were gathered through interviews by the author. Their perceptions will be intersected with the academic literature. The third main element is a content analysis of the Regina
Leader-Post.
The reporters chosen for this thesis represent both sexes, different elements of the mass media (radio, television and print), and they represent both public broadcasting and 17 private media operations. They are six well-known and well-respected journalists within the province with solid reputations and wide-ranging experiences. Their stories about themselves, their culture, their work as journalists and the challenges and opportunities that they face within their newsrooms and within their own communities are integral elements of this research, and break new ground by introducing a contemporary
and unique approach. The list of questions that was put to each reporter was submitted to the University of Regina Research Ethics Board (Appendix A on page 150) and permission to conduct the interviews was received from the Board. (Appendix B on page
152)
As a former journalist in Saskatchewan for many years, the author is familiar with all of the journalists in varying degrees. She is most familiar with those who have
connections with the CBC in Saskatchewan, since that is where she worked. However, the media community in Saskatchewan is small and any journalist who has practiced for
any significant period of time in the province becomes familiar with other practicing journalists, and in particular with their work and their reputations. It is the belief of the
author that her previous role in no way influenced the content of any of the interviews.
At the time of the interviews, the researcher had left the media and was working in a public communications capacity, and had no direct professional relationship with the
subjects of the interviews.
The content analysis of the Regina Leader-Post was done to examine the coverage of
Aboriginal issues over a specific period of time. That research included cataloguing the pages in each issue and identifying various factors related to stories deemed as Aboriginal
(see Appendix C on page 153 for copy of coding used). 18 In the course of this research and given the contemporary nature of the thesis, and the continuing emergency of new developments, it became clear that it was important to utilize a finite end date in terms of the material used in the content analysis and sampling. The date chosen was the end of 2005. While there is some discussion of some issues after that date, it is only on a more cursory level in order to explore a continuing important issue. In addition, the research sample does not include the use of what is now known as new media, in particular the internet. There is little doubt that the internet is changing the face of mass communications with the advent of instant access and instant and personalized news from non-professionals such as bloggers. This is an interesting topic with a growing body of literature. It is certainly worthy of further research, but that is a topic for another thesis.
In order to fully place this research in the proper context it is important to examine some of the theories and concepts used to explain what Canadians see, read and hear on a daily basis in the mainstream media. 19 CHAPTER TWO
THEORETICAL APPROACHES
It is generally accepted that no single theory or method is sufficient to explain
fully the complexities of mass communications. Many different theoretical approaches
are used to study media, culture and society and they are all housed in separate disciplines
and academic fields and they are all tied together in the concept of cultural studies. In
fact, the use of theory in media studies has been likened to a navigation tool which is used
on journeys to various destinations, rather than constituting the destination of the journey
itself (McQuail, 2003: 40). Constant and rapid changes in the media and communications
through evolving technology and other developments present a number of challenges to
the study of communications.
The theoretical framework employed by this paper is multidisciplinary and
influenced by the analysis of a number of scholars including Teun Van Dijk (1991; 2000);
Fleras and Kuntz (2001); Fleras (1995: 2001); Hall, (1980; 1996; 1996a); Henry and
Tator (2002); Henry, Tator, Mattis and Rees (2001) and Durham and Kellner (2001).
These scholars incorporate discourse analysis, critical race theory and cultural studies in
their reflections on the media and their approach to minority issues. This thesis will
examine these elements but will concentrate primarily on the concept of cultural studies,
which examines how reality can be studied through language, discourse, representations
and images.
Ideas about race, gender and ethnicity and what is normal are produced and
promoted within ideological constructs (Henry and Tator, 2002: 21). This is the terrain
that Hall calls common sense: "Why, then, is common sense so important? Because it is the terrain of conceptions and categories on which the practical consciousness of the masses of the people is actually formed" (Hall, 1996: 431). Ideology is a deliberate cultural influence which serves to interpret experiences of reality (McQuail, 1994: 99).
The mass media disseminates ideology through its production of media images (Croteau and Hoynes, 1997: 163; Hall, 1995a: 361). ".. .Ideologies have a validity that is
'psychological"; they "organize" the human masses, they establish the ground on which humans move, become conscious of their position, struggle, etc.: Gramsci, (1930-31:
171). Generally speaking, people are not cognizant of their ideologies, in the sense that they are so deeply embedded that they are considered normal and part of every-day reality.
2.1 Hegemony and Cultural Studies
The notion of hegemony originated with Italian Marxist writer and activist, Antonio
Gramsci, who wrote in the 1920s and 1930s. Gramsci believed that ruling groups could maintain power through consent or force or a combination of the two (Gramsci, 1929-
1930; 155; Croteau and Hoynes, 1997: 169). However, he was also of the view that no ruling group could establish long-term dominance through physical coercion, especially in democratic countries where people are literate and can vote. Gramsci suggested that power is exercised in the arena of everyday-life culture in which people essentially consent to current social arrangements dominated by ruling groups with greater access to privileges and power: "That consent is won, in part, by getting people to understand and interpret the real conditions in which they live their daily lives in ways which support, or at least do not radically challenge, existing social relations" (Hackett, Pinet and Ruggles,
1996: 259). Hegemony, therefore, combines persuasion from the dominant group above, 21 with consent from the subordinate group. Rather than imposing their will, the dominant group represents its own interests as aligned with the general welfare of society.
The subordinate group consents to the preeminence of the dominant class and the ruling ideology is therefore seen to exist because of general consensus rather than through imposition (McQuail, 1994: 99). When opposition to the dominant group and the status quo does arise, hegemony tends to define that opposition as dissident and deviant, and unacceptable to society (McQuail, 1994: 99).
The Frankfurt Institute for Social Research in the 1930s with theorists led by Max
Horkheimer, T.W. Adorno and Herbert Marcuse developed analyses of cultural industries that emerged as key to social hegemony. The Frankfurt School was made up of a group of philosophers, sociologists, social psychologists and cultural critics who together developed powerful analyses of the changes in Western capitalist societies that occurred since the classical theory of Marx. They produced some of the first accounts within critical social theory of the importance of mass culture and communication in social reproduction and domination, and were among the first to approach questions of morality, religion, science, reason, and rationality from a variety of perspectives and disciplines simultaneously. They believed that bringing different disciplines together would bring insights that could not be achieved within the confines of specialized academic domains.
The Frankfurt School initiated critical studies of mass communication and culture showing how the media was controlled by groups who used their products to further their own interests and domination. They called this 'culture industry'. The culture industry formed an integral part of a wider tendency of a capitalist society to create and transform peoples' needs and desires to what would benefit capitalist producers of goods and 22 services and having them see ownership and consumption as indicators that they had fulfilling and worthwhile lives.
The views of Jurgen Habermas and the public sphere are considered an extension of the Frankfurt School of critical theory. Habermas was a second-generation member of the Frankfurt School who argued that the development of early modern capitalism created an arena of public debate. His view is that the economic independence provided by ownership of private property resulted in critical reflection, and along with the emergence of an independent market-based press, it created a new public engaged in critical thinking
(Curran, 1991: 83). Specifically, Habermas notes how bourgeois society beginning in the late eighteenth century was distinguished by the rise of a public sphere that stood between civil society and the state and which mediated between public and private interests. This public sphere represented a realm of social life in which something approaching public opinion could be formed and where all citizens could participate (Habermas, 2001:103).
Habermas's public sphere was basically that part of a community's social life where people talk about matters of general interest (Hallin, 1994: 2).
According to Habermas, for the first time in history, individuals and groups could formulate public opinion which reflected their own needs and interests, and had potential to influence political practice. Coffee houses and salons were the sites within which the newspapers of the day were read and discussed in face-to-face groups and where discussions were framed with reference to, and on behalf of, the broader social interests (Boyd-Barrett,
1995a: 230).
Habermas argues that the public sphere began to change and disintegrate as it became dominated by an expanded state and organized economic interests. Newspapers and 23 magazines gradually acquired mass circulation and became absorbed into giant capitalist corporations that operated in the private interests of a few powerful individuals.
Communications became manipulated by the growing new media, which became more interested in mass distribution and mass audience sale to advertisers than it was in meeting the needs of its consumers (Boyd-Barrett, 1995a: 231). Instead of fostering the formation of rational opinion and reliable beliefs, the public sphere became an arena where public opinion could be stage-managed and manipulated. As a result, the mass media, instead of promoting freedom and human flourishing actually began to stifle it.
The rise of the commercial mass media changed not only the institutional structure of political communication but also the structure of discourse itself (Hallin, 1994: 33).
The public that used to be interested in critical discussions now became more interested in
spectacle or entertainment which resulted in the re-feudalization of politics (Dahlgren,
1992: 5). The media ceased to be an agency of empowerment and rationality and became
another means by which the public was sidelined (Curran 1991: 83). The media, instead
of reporting on politics, became an active participant in the political process through its role in publicity and became increasingly important to political life (Thornton, 2002: 9).
While recognizing that forms of media such as radio and television created new forms of
conversation, Habermas suggested those forms could not be favourably compared to the
critical rational debate that made up the bourgeois public sphere, and suggested media
discourse was now manipulated and structured.
Habermas's theory of the public sphere has its critics and Habermas himself later
refined his own theory. The main criticism is related to the fact that although his concept
of a bourgeois public sphere was based on public access by all, in reality it restricted membership to those with education and to those with the property and financial means to participate in the discourse (Thompson, 1995: 253). In this sense, Habermas's bourgeois public sphere, defined as a space where subjects participate as equals in rational discussion in pursuit of truth and common good, was in reality just an ideology or illusion. Those who did not own property, women and people of colour were all excluded. Critics suggest that rather than being universal, Habermas deals only with the elite and that the open access he wrote of was not truly available to all (Fraser, 1993: 3).
They also suggest that he neglected the various oppositional working classes, and that plebeian and women's public spheres developed alongside the bourgeois public sphere to represent the voices and interests excluded in this bourgeois forum.
The role of the media in the decline of the public sphere also comes under some debate. For some, the encroachment of a commercial media tarnished, if not fatally flawed, the contemporary western public sphere. The argument is that the commercial media is interested primarily in making profits for owners and shareholders, not in the discourse it is producing. For others, the media is the main, if not only, vehicle for whatever can be held to exist of the public sphere in societies (Curran, 1991: 96).
However, Colin Sparks argues that blaming the commercialization of the press for the destruction of the public sphere is an overstatement, in that there is no necessary reason why the motives of an owner should lead to exactly the type of press that we have today
(Sparks, 1992: 281). Oliver Boyd-Barrett also suggests that Habermas exaggerates the corruption of the commercial mass media in that, some of the media, some of the time, still serves as a forum for discussion of issues of public interest among people who are knowledgeable and interested (1995: 231). 25 Despite the criticisms, many scholars and researchers agree that the core of the
Habermas discussion around the public sphere is extremely useful both as a standard of evaluation and as an empirical concept. It is argued the existence of the public sphere is not at issue; what is at issue is its form, membership, institutions and characteristics
(Avison, 1996: 2-3) and that Habermas still offers a powerful and arresting view of the role of media in a democratic society. Curran suggests: "From his [Habermas's] work can be extrapolated a model of a public sphere as a neutral zone where access to relevant information affecting the public good is widely available, where discussion is free of domination by the state and where all those participating in public debate do so on an equal basis" (Curran, 1991: 83). The work of Habermas appears to point to the increasingly important role of the media in politics and everyday life and the ways that corporate interests have colonized this sphere, using the media and culture to promote their own interests.
The role of the media was important to Habermas and it is important to comprehending hegemony. While the mass media does not define reality, it does give preferential access to the statements of those in authority. As a result, media representations can be viewed as ideology or systems of values, beliefs, ideas and ways of knowing that serve to maintain and legitimize an exploitive structure of economic relations or the stratification of individuals into larger social groups with distinct and contending political and economic interests (Hachey, 1992: 213).
2.2 Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies
Cultural studies is born of all these theories and more. It grew out of multiple works, multiple discourses, different methodologies and theoretical positions, and had a number 26 of different histories (Hall, 1996: 263). This thesis utilizes the approach represented by the research of the Birmingham University Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies as the foundation for its examination of the mainstream media and its approaches to
Aboriginal people and issues.
British cultural studies emerged in the 1960s when there was widespread global resistance to consumer capitalism and an upsurge of revolutionary movements. At the time, there were significant tensions in England and much of Europe between an older working class-based culture and a newer mass-produced one. The Birmingham group, with leaders including Richard Hoggart and Stuart Hall, embraced the interplay of representations and ideologies of class, gender, race, ethnicity and nationality in cultural texts including newspapers, radio, television and film. Hall, who is considered the main modern founder of British cultural studies, described the theory of cultural studies as open-ended and always ready to embrace something new (1996: 264). Using the cultural studies concept Hall examined issues related to race (1978; 1997; 1996a) and ideology
(1995; 1996d).
Like the Frankfurt School, British cultural studies concluded that mass culture was playing an important role in integrating the working class into existing capitalist societies and that a new consumer and media culture was forming a new mode of capitalist hegemony. In fact, Hall argued that the mass media is the main site where hegemony is exercised (Hall, 1995a: 361). He argued that the media produces images of the world that give events particular meaning. "Media images do not simply reflect the world, they re present it; instead of producing the "reality" of the world "out there," the media engage in practices that define reality" (Croteau and Hoynes, 1997: 171). In this sense, the world view seen in the media does not just reflect or reinforce culture, but it in fact shapes thinking by promoting the dominant ideology of a culture through cultural hegemony or the ability of the dominant class to exercise social and cultural leadership (Silverblatt,
Ferry and Finan, 1999: 4). Feminists, multiculturalists and others also detected that ideologies in the media also reproduce relations of domination in areas such as gender and race (Kellner and Durham, 2001: 6).
Proponents of cultural studies accept that major institutions, including the mass media, reproduce the dominant values, ideologies and meanings that most people learn to accept as common sense, or the norm. This is not to suggest that the media is only a mirror of the dominant ideology. Other factors can come into play including the media's own philosophies, imperatives, conventions and practices, which may not always match the dominant ideologies (Silverblatt, Ferry and Finan, 1999: 5). And while it is accepted that mass media culture generally supports capitalist values, it is also a site where the views of the powerful can be contested (Croteau and Hoynes, 1997: 172).
Different ideologies and perspectives representing different interests engage in a struggle within media texts (Hall, Critcher, Jefferson, Clarke and Roberts, 1978: 65).
Using this perspective some ideas will have an advantage because they are perceived as popular or based on familiar media images, while others will be at a disadvantage, rarely used and virtually invisible. There is little doubt that some ideas end up with the advantage in today's mainstream media because they are perceived as popular or based on familiar media images and others are much less visible. There is also little question that the mass media constitutes a main tool for reinforcing the dominant culture's ideologies and for promoting its political and economic interests. Members of the 28 dominant culture can see their images on a daily basis in the mass media and often times those images are portrayed in a positive light. Those members of the non-dominant culture, including Aboriginal people, do not share that same privilege.
This thesis accepts that First Nations and Metis people and visible minorities are too often misrepresented in the mainstream mass media and that the media helps to preserve cultural hegemony in our pluralistic society. This conclusion is consistent with the views of Hall: "Unwittingly, unconsciously, the broadcaster has served as a support for the reproduction of a dominant ideological discursive field" (Hall, 1995a: 363). This author agrees with Hall's perspective that the process is largely invisible, and that racial and other filters are primarily unconscious. Aboriginal journalists working in the mainstream media have a first hand view of how Aboriginal issues are handled in their newsrooms; they also have their own perspectives of their roles in that process. CHAPTER THREE
THROUGH THE LENS OF THE ABORIGINAL JOURNALIST
An essential component of this thesis is the perspective of Aboriginal journalists.
In fact, the decision to choose this topic was made precisely because these Aboriginal perspectives were to a large extent missing from the discourse surrounding the coverage of Aboriginal issues and people in the mainstream media. The author wanted to find out what the perspectives were and to examine whether they supported existing academic and theoretical analysis.
The six journalists interviewed for this thesis have different backgrounds, but share a deep interest in how Aboriginal issues are covered in the mainstream media and the role of Aboriginal journalists in that process. According to the terms of the ethics clearance they were all given the option of withholding their names; however, they all chose to be identified and welcomed the opportunity to have their voices heard.
3.1 Betty Ann Adam - Saskatoon StarPhoenix
Betty Ann Adam has been a reporter with the Saskatoon StarPhoenix for about twenty years. She is originally from the Fond du Lac First Nation in Saskatchewan; however she grew up from the age of three in a non-Aboriginal foster home near Prince
Albert. She attended the University of Saskatchewan sporadically where she studied
literature. Betty Ann's interest in journalism came after meeting her birth family around
1985. That meeting inspired her to seek out a career that would allow her to meet other
Aboriginal people and learn more about her heritage. Betty Ann began her journalism
career by volunteering at the community television station in Saskatoon. She also worked
with a group of independent Aboriginal producers on various projects, volunteered and 30 then became the station director for CFCR radio, the Saskatoon community radio
organization, and also worked at Blue Hill Productions, a media company.1
At Blue Hill Productions, Betty Ann started by editing other reporters' scripts,
coordinating writers and coordinating production materials such as images. While editing
the scripts she occasionally decided to go out and do interviews to build on the stories
submitted in order to add more information. While the result was improved stories, some
of the reporters who produced the original material were, not surprisingly, less than
amused to have their scripts edited in this fashion. Betty Ann found the work stimulating,
so when she heard of a reporting position with the Saskatoon StarPhoenix, she applied,
and to her surprise, she got the job and ended up in the StarPhoenix newsroom.
Due to her lack of daily journalism experience, Betty Ann was assigned a mentor
to guide her and introduce her to newsroom operations. The mentor was a senior reporter
with considerable experience. Betty Ann says this mentor was very valuable to her
development and understanding of the media. Over the years Betty Ann has been offered
the Aboriginal beat on different occasions; however she has always refused on the basis
that she wants the ability to do a variety of stories rather than be pigeonholed into doing
Aboriginal-related stories only.
Betty Ann has never considered working anywhere but in the mainstream media.
She believes that other First Nations people are generally pleased that there is an
Aboriginal reporter in the newsroom and she often gets calls on Aboriginal issues that she
refers to other reporters. Other reporters at the paper also often ask her for her opinion on
First Nations stories which she is happy to provide.
1 Blue Hill Productions is a communications company owned and operated by Doug Cuthand, a First Nations journalist, who is also interviewed for this thesis. 31 Some people will come to me and just run something past me, and say what do you think about this? I am doing this? What do you think about this? And you know, I can give an opinion. I don't think anyone considers me the absolute resident expert or guru, but I think there's some sort of respect (Adam interview, 2005).
Betty Ann is relatively pleased with the open-mindedness expressed by her employer and her newsroom demonstrates significant interest and effort in covering
Aboriginal issues and providing understanding of Aboriginal issues to staff through cultural awareness training; but overall she believes there is a lack of resources provided by the mainstream media to cover First Nations issues. She describes Aboriginal issues as complicated, requiring a certain amount of understanding and requiring considerable context, which most reporters simply do not have:
I think that the issues are complex and all of them fall into a huge context and that many journalists sent to cover stories just don't have that context. And I think that is part of the way that journalism is nowadays; there's not a lot of time. Organizations are pressed for resources. You might have people going out to cover story when they don't have a lot of background on it. They really need the background, I think, in order to ask all the right questions and put it into a context (Adam interview, 2005).
Neither Betty Ann nor the other Aboriginal journalists interviewed suggest only
Aboriginal reporters can bring the right context and knowledge to stories. Betty Ann points out a particular non-Aboriginal reporter that she worked with for several years who
she believes knew much more than she did about Aboriginal issues. She describes him as having read extensively about issues and that he in fact provided her with help.
3.2 - Nelson Bird - CTV - Regina
Nelson Bird is a member of the Peepeekisis First Nation, and attended school on
the reserve until he was fifteen and his family moved to Regina. Nelson started out his
career as an employee of the Government of Saskatchewan and worked there for eight 32 years before deciding to become a journalist: "Basically I felt a need for a First Nations perspective on journalism. I've always been interested in it, and I felt that there was not enough representation and I felt that I could make a difference" (Bird interview, 2005).
Nelson says he has never regretted his decision.
In 1992, Nelson started journalism classes at the University of Regina. While there he wrote freelance stories for the Prairie Dog, Windspeaker and Sage newspapers.
He also helped organize a university-based First Nations radio station and participated as a writer, layout designer and editor for the Native Sun, a university publication produced by students at the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College (SIFC - later renamed the First
Nations University of Canada). Nelson graduated from the University of Regina with two
Bachelor of Arts Degrees - one in Indian Studies and the other in Journalism. In addition
Nelson also earned an Indian Communication Arts certificate through the SIFC. He began working for CTV in Regina in 1998 and has been there ever since.
Nelson made a determined decision to work in the mainstream media. As an avid consumer of the media, he was convinced that the mainstream media did not always do a very good job of portraying First Nations people in Saskatchewan:
That was my opinion, and I thought all we ever see on TV is Crime Stopper kind of things. The crime of the day happens to be a male native for example, six foot tall, those kinds of things, and that would be the stereotypical image that people would perceive. Prior to working in the media, I met several people, who were non-Native, who were surprised, when they met me; they thought all Indians hang out downtown and were winos and things like that (Bird interview, 2005).
While Nelson knew exactly what he wanted, some of his friends and family were very concerned about his decision:
People thought that I was crazy to quit my government job and make this leap into the unknown, as a journalist. You know, we don't trust journalists. There were 33 people out there who seriously questioned my goals, but there were also many who said, good for you. My dad for example said do it; make a change, if you can. So I listened to him, and I listened to myself and my own gut instinct (Bird interview, 2005).
Nelson is satisfied with his position and role at CTV, where in addition to having his own weekly show on Aboriginal issues called Indigenous Circle, he also contributes to daily news reporting on a variety of topics. He has significant influence and impact on the CTV Regina coverage of Aboriginal issues and that influence does not end there:
And it's not just in Regina, it's Saskatchewan-wide. CTV has four bureaus in Saskatchewan, so I can say there's a thing happening in Yorkton today, I think we should go to it, we should send somebody to it. If it's possible, they will. They know that we need this. They are somewhat dedicated to the coverage of First Nations and Metis issues (Bird interview, 2005).
Nelson believes in working to build bridges between Aboriginal and non-
Aboriginal communities. His many other accomplishments include teaching journalism students about Aboriginal issues.
3.3 Mervin Brass - Rawlco Radio - Saskatoon
Mervin Brass is a member of the Key First Nation in Saskatchewan. His interest in news and current events began at an early age. He describes himself as the kid who always had his hand up first in the classroom to answer the teacher's questions - so much so that the teacher stopped letting him answer, because he knew that Mervin was going to be right. His father was a vice-chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations and a Band chief and Mervin not only grew up in an atmosphere saturated with various political discussions, but also was able to meet many of the chiefs of the day. As a young child, Mervin was already a news fan; listening to the radio, watching television and reading newspapers and magazines; however he did not make a conscious decision to enter the field of journalism until one special day in 1990, while attending the SIFC
that he will always remember. He was walking through one of the buildings at the
University of Regina campus, when he stopped to examine what looked like an
interesting wall display. It turned out to be a series of photographs of prominent
Canadian journalists including former CBC National News anchor, Pamela Wallin,
current CBC National News anchor, Peter Mansbridge, and Allan Fotheringham, a well
known columnist and author:
And I looked at the wall and I thought, there's no Aboriginal journalists, there is no First Nations journalists here, and wondered why? I knew of Joan Beatty at the time, I knew she was working for CBC, and thought, we need more of those types of journalists from that perspective, so I went and found out what classes I needed (Brass interview, 2005).2
At the time of this epiphany, Mervin had been contemplating becoming a social
worker in order to help his people but he decided that he would be much more help as a journalist, providing accurate and knowledgeable stories in the media. Mervin never
looked back. He entered the Indian Communication Arts (INCA) program at SIFC and
then the School of Journalism at the University of Regina. On graduation, he decided he
wanted to work in the mainstream media. He interned with CBC Radio and Television in
Regina before moving to Rawlco Radio in Saskatoon when he was unable to secure full-
time employment with the CBC. Mervin is very happy reporting and hosting a weekly
program Meeting Ground, which deals with Aboriginal issues. While he is pleased with
his position, and happy with the influence he has, he notes that his coverage sometimes
2 Joan Beatty is a former journalist with the Aboriginal Magazine, New Breed, and a former provincial current affairs reporter for CBC Television news in Regina and a national reporter for CBC Television news. She was also a Cabinet Minister in the NDP Government of Saskatchewan, and at the time of the completion of this thesis was a Liberal federal candidate. 35 gets him into trouble with his own people, who do not understand when he produces items that are critical of First Nations people or issues:
Sometimes, because people have approached me on the side after and said why are you doing this to your own people? Why do you do that, you're working for the white man? Why are you turning on us? And I have to explain to them, no I'm not, I am not writing for the white man. I am writing for our own people who need to hear those answers. They listen to my argument; they respect me for it (Brass interview, 2005).
This is not an uncommon complaint of Aboriginal and minority journalists working in the mainstream media, who can sometimes find themselves fighting a two- way battle. They fight to ensure proper and contextual coverage of issues related to their ethnic group, and at the same time they have to deal with expectations from that ethnic group related to the stories they produce. Despite the criticism, Brass says he is well aware of the importance of his contributions to the coverage of Aboriginal issues for
Rawlco Radio. He says his employer re-affirms his contributions on a daily basis, which he finds very rewarding. His colleagues also value his contributions to the news room:
That's what I have always wanted, was to be able to have a hand in that and tell them here's how we should approach a story that pertains to Aboriginal people and they listen to me. They don't always do it, but for the most part at least they hear me out, and most times, we do those angles that I suggest (Brass interview, 2005).
Brass and the other Aboriginal journalists agree that this is an added value they bring to the newsrooms of Saskatchewan, although none of them suggest that newsrooms should hire individuals simply because they are Aboriginal:
I would treat Aboriginal people just like they treat other reporters. If they're good, keep them and develop them and spend some development money on them. If they are not, move them along. You are not doing anybody any favours by hiring just because of a skin colour (Brass interview, 2005). 3.4 Doug Cuthand - Regina Leader-Post and Saskatoon StarPhoenvc
Doug Cuthand is a member of the Little Pine First Nation in Saskatchewan and maintains close ties to the reserve even though he grew up in Lac La Ronge and on the
Ahtahkakoop First Nation. Doug attended Simon Fraser University and then worked for the Alberta Native Communications Society in Edmonton, where he edited the
organization's newspaper. Later he edited the Saskatchewan Indian. Doug also spent
five years as an elected vice-chief of the FSIN. In 1987, Doug and his wife started Blue
Hill Productions, which is one of the leading First Nations communications companies in the country. Doug is recognized as an independent producer, director, writer and journalist and over the years his contributions to the media have been recognized regionally, nationally and internationally.
Among other things, Doug currently writes a regular weekly column on
Aboriginal issues which is published in the Saskatoon StarPhoenix and the Regina
Leader-Post and occasionally the Winnipeg Free Press:
So I can reach a large audience of both First Nations people and non-First Nations people, simply because so many people are reading the newspaper now. I've always had the belief that information is power and you should share it with as many people as you can, so they can make some of the right decisions, because right now people in Saskatchewan have to do some serious thinking about Aboriginal issues and address them (Cuthand interview, 2005).
The key issues to which Doug is referring are related to the high urban Aboriginal
population in Saskatchewan. There are now almost 100,000 First Nations people (and
about 35,000 Metis) in Saskatchewan and half of the First Nations population lives off-
reserve, most in urban centres. Doug says this demographic, coupled with a failure to
address the needs of that growing population, is resulting in growing social problems, 37 such as violence, drugs and gangs. Doug is of the view that these kinds of problems make it important that elected officials know the issues and the impact of their decisions on those issues. He says he has noticed an increase in problems with young Aboriginal people and that members of First Nations gangs who used to fight internally are now also
fighting externally: "This kind of thing is just moving too fast, you know, things are really going to happen, and like I say now the violence is externalized. This is where you have riots in Watts. I am not saying we are going to have riots here, but something close to it could break out" (Cuthand interview, 2005). When Doug first began to write his
column he anticipated doing it on an occasional basis until he discovered the kind of
impact his writing could have. His columns have been used in schools to teach in both
Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal settings.
Doug agrees with the other Aboriginal reporters that having Aboriginal reporters
makes a tremendous difference to the coverage of Aboriginal people and issues in news
outlets: "Well they could start to hire some Aboriginal reporters. When they get 15
percent to 20 percent of the city population made up of Aboriginal people, and you have a
pure white newsroom you've got to ask yourself some questions. Why don't they have a
couple of reporters" (Cuthand interview, 2005). Doug says another problem that
Aboriginal reporters sometimes face in newsrooms; is the suggestion that they should not
cover Aboriginal stories in order to avoid the perception of bias. He describes a story he
was told by an Aboriginal reporter who worked for CBC: "She was told as an Indian that
she should not be handling Indian stories. I said what! That's fair game, as white people
they shouldn't handle white people stories, and therefore hire a whole bunch of Indians to
cover white people" (Cuthand interview, 2005). In the end Doug says he is not in favour 38 of hiring First Nations people just because they are First Nations but he says there is no
doubt more First Nations reporters are needed in the media.
3.5 Merelda Fiddler -CBC-Regina
Merelda Fiddler is a Cree Metis from Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan who grew up
with two very determined women in her life, her mother and her much older sister. Her
grandmother and her aunts are also credited with helping to shape her choices and views
of the world. On graduation from high school in Meadow Lake, Merelda wanted to become a playwright, but feeling that it would take too long to become established and
make a living at it, she decided to enter the field of journalism as a means by which she
could work at what she most liked to do, which was writing, and be paid enough to
support herself in the immediate term. Merelda graduated from the School of Journalism
at the University of Regina and interned with CBC and CTV. Today Merelda is a
reporter and producer with CBC radio in Regina. However, among her many other
accomplishments she has taught at the INCA program at the First Nations University of
Canada, produced two independent documentaries which were run on national TV
outlets, done freelance writing and research, and written a play for CBC Radio Arts.
Merelda's interests include tackling real issues including capturing the essence of
Metis identity. Her many experiences in various mainstream media newsrooms have led
her to many discoveries. One is that in some cases other reporters expect her to know
what she considers the strangest things:
I think they take this weird attitude. As soon as everybody knows you are Aboriginal, the first thing they do then, is when a story comes up, everybody looks at you and says do you know that Indian? Maybe, but the odds are against that because there are lots of Indian people out there (Fiddler interview, 2005). This ties into the notion that not only are the Aboriginal or minority journalists expected to know every other Aboriginal person or minority person, but they are also in some cases expected to answer for them. It also ties into the issues of white privilege where white people are never expected to answer for their entire ethnic group, nor are they considered a credit or a discredit to their 'race.' The second major learning curve for
Merelda was the realization of how little many non-Aboriginal journalists knew about
Aboriginal issues: "I don't think I realized until I got there and sort of was really in the mainstream and also working on Aboriginal issues, how very, very clueless people are when it comes to Aboriginal history, and Aboriginal knowledge at all" (Fiddler interview,
2005).
Merelda believes that the general public also lacks any real knowledge of
Aboriginal history and history in general. She describes working with a class of 65 first- year university students, all of whom found it difficult to describe what important historical event had occurred in Canada in 1867:
So you are dealing with that. People don't know a lot of their history and so learning Aboriginal history almost seems even less important to them. I guess I am trying to say that I think for a journalist who is always concerned about what's happening now, they forget that without that context you can't possibly do those stories" (Fiddler interview, 2005).
Yet she argues there is sometimes resistance within the newsroom to acquiring the context that would help to explain a story:
And it was funny because one person said to me, I don't need a history lesson, I just need to know what's happening right now. And I didn't understand that. But as I started, the more time I spent in the mainstream media, the more I realized that people are so caught up, with I don't need to know that, I just need to know what's happening right now. Whereas John Lagimodiere's paper, Eagle Feather News, he knows what happened before, he can put it into context, and I think that is by and large what's missing (Fiddler interview, 2005). Merelda says Aboriginal people appreciate when context and perspective are provided in media stories related to Aboriginal people and issues. She says that is one of the reasons why they welcome the knowledge of the presence of Aboriginal journalists with Indigenous knowledge and perspectives in mainstream media newsrooms:
They don't see people who understand their issues; they see people who talk about their issues and always get something wrong. That's not to say I always got it right, because I didn't and you always make mistakes. They just feel largely, I think, that there isn't anybody there speaking out for them (Fiddler interview, 2005).
3.6 Michelle Hugli - CBC - Regina
Michelle Hugli is a member of the Yellowquill First Nation in Saskatchewan who was born and grew up in Saskatoon and Regina. She was something of a bookworm as a child and honed strong writing and other communications skills, which eventually led her to journalism. Michelle's mother is First Nations and her father is white. Growing up she noticed that her father's side of the family had a lot of attitudes and opinions about First
Nations peoples and issues that were inaccurate. She lays the blame for this lack of knowledge primarily on the education system and says that is one of the reasons why she turned to journalism as a career: "As adults you get most of your information through the media and I thought well if people aren't learning at school maybe they will through the media. People are getting their information through the images they see on television, through the ways things are written in papers" (Hugli interview, 2003). Michelle completed the INCA program at the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College and then attended the School of Journalism at the University of Regina. She also took general
Indian Studies classes at university, which she credits with opening her eyes even more, 41 and helping her to discover more about First Nations culture and her mother's
experiences and perspectives.
When Michelle graduated from University in May, 2002, she made a conscious decision to work in the mainstream media:
Because it is mainstream, that's where most people get their information from. If I am going to make any kind of difference, because I went in a young kid, very idealistic, I want to go and change the world, I am not going to do it by preaching to the converted (Hugh interview, 2003).
Michelle interned at CBC and ended up working there after graduation. While
employed at CBC, Michelle tried to play a major role in the coverage of Aboriginal
stories, believing that she could help to bring perspective and context, which was
sometimes a difficult and thankless task:
I get comments and stuff from people, about being a Native reporter and always covering Native stories. I had one person say to me, one time, how come you are always doing Native stories, or why do you always do Native stories? I said, well why do you always do white stories? And I wasn't trying to be cheeky; I wasn't trying to be rude (Hugh interview, 2003).
Similar to other comments heard from the Aboriginal journalists interviewed,
Michelle says being an Aboriginal journalist in the mainstream media does not mean
always writing stories in support of a First Nations position. She considers herself first
and foremost a reporter ready to ask tough questions of Aboriginal people as well as non-
Aboriginal people; however she says being Aboriginal can sometimes be an asset when
covering stories related to Aboriginal people and issues:
Most times though, I found that with other Native people it has opened doors, because they feel more comfortable with me and that to me is something good because there is a mistrust between First Nations and the media that needs to be fixed on both sides, I think. The media needs to take the first step too in reaching out to certain people, and incorporating differing voices, but I think about my own background every day on my job and I don't think most non-Native reporters do (Hugli interview, 2003).
Michelle left CBC in 2004, because the Corporation ran out of funding for her term position, and began editing a newly established monthly magazine for First Nations
youth in Saskatchewan called Shout. The magazine was a product of a partnership between CanWest Global, the First Nations University of Canada and MGM
Communications. The first edition came out late in 2005 and the publication, which
proved to be popular with Aboriginal youth, lasted for more than a year before it ceased
publication due to issues related to financing. Among other things, Michelle is currently
hosting two two-hour weekend programs with Rawlco radio in Saskatoon.
3.7 Reflecting on the Journalists
The six journalists interviewed for this thesis share a common perspective among
themselves, and, as will be seen when the thesis examines other issues including the role
of the journalists and the coverage of Aboriginal issues, they also share the perspectives
of some of the academics who have written about the mainstream mass media and
minorities. Their common perspective relates to issues including how the media covers
Aboriginal issues, the hiring of Aboriginal journalists and the role of Aboriginal journalists in the newsroom. Each one is of the view that the mainstream mass media
does not do a good enough job of portraying Aboriginal people and issues. They are of
the view that this poor coverage results in problems not only for Aboriginal people, but
for society as a whole. One change they all say is elemental to making things better is the
hiring of journalists and producers who have a better understanding of Aboriginal issues,
who can bring the context that is needed to make stories more relevant and more real. 43 Without that context, they say, the same old stereotypical stories are replayed which perpetuate stereotypes and myths about Aboriginal people and contribute to the two
solitudes that are too often seen in the province. They believe that these journalists can be Aboriginal or non-Aboriginal as long as they are trained and knowledgeable. The training and knowledge is vital, in part because once these journalists are on the job, they will be dealing with an institution that has a long and complex history in Canada. CHAPTER FOUR
MEDIA IN CANADA
Canada's geography, its relatively sparse population and the proximity of the
United States have made communications of particular interest to Canadians from early in
the country's history, with arguments that a strong and diverse news media is in the
public interest and necessary to protect and preserve Canadian culture. The mainstream
mass media, which for the purposes of this paper refers to the news and current affairs
content of primarily newspapers, television and radio, is a part of the communications of
modern day society. Before examining the content of those instruments, it is important to
appreciate how media developed in Canada.
Newspapers were the first form of mass media in Canada and reached peak
audiences in the 1950s. The first newspapers published were directly accountable to the
government, and if the government did not approve of their content the owners could be jailed (Desbarats, 1996: 179). Clearly, the importance and impact of the media has been
apparent from early on, and it is interesting to note that of the 98 participants at the
Charlottetown Conference in 1864, which was the beginning of the creation of Canada as
an entity, 23 were journalists and most of the others had ties to the newspapers of the day
(Siegel, 1996: 92).
Private ownership was commonly accepted as the norm for the print media in
Canada. However, it was determined fairly early in the life of broadcasting that a
publicly-owned and operated system was important because the airwaves were a scarce
resource seen as belonging to the public in general, and a resource that had to be used in
an orderly and proper fashion (McPhail and McPhail, 1990; 146). At the same time 45 broadcasting had the capacity to reach virtually every home, and was viewed as a tool
to cultivate Canadian national identity (Siegel, 1996: 104). A mixed system was
eventually adopted with the establishment of a publicly owned radio system along with
private operations (McPhail and McPhail, 1990: 147).
Mass media products are expensive to produce, so much so that owners and
producers determined that the public would never be willing to pay the full cost of
production. Funds raised through advertising were therefore used to subsidize the cost of
the production of mass media products and allowed the public to be charged a lesser,
more manageable fee (Siegel, 1996: 113). Advertising accounts for about 75 percent of
the revenues of most newspapers and magazines and almost all the income of private
radio and television.
4.1 Legislation
Certain legislative and regulatory initiatives were created early in Canadian
broadcasting that charged operations with certain social, economic and political
responsibilities. The Broadcasting Act is the predominant statute, with the first
Broadcasting Act passed in 1932. Among other things, the Broadcasting Act sets out who
can own stations and outlines what broadcasting should do for society.
Canada's early political leaders understood that broadcasting would be a major
force in Canadian lives (Taras, 1999: 118). Public broadcasting originated as a
cornerstone of Canadian national identity and the CBC was created by the 1936
Broadcast Act to provide basic broadcasting to all Canadians free from the burden of
making a profit (Salter, 1988: 232). In 1958 TV was extended to private profit-making
organizations, and a Board of Governors was also created which took over the licensing and regulation of both public and private broadcasting (Siegel, 1996: 107). The
Canadian Radio-television Commission was created in 1968 as an independent public
authority to regulate and supervise all aspects of public and private broadcasting. When
Canada amended the Broadcasting Act in 1991, it committed to ensuring that the broadcasting system reflects Canada's racial and cultural diversity. In addition, the Act
stressed that employees of those systems should reflect the diversity of the Canadian
population, including Aboriginal people.
In administering the Broadcasting Act, the CRTC provides guidelines for
portrayals of diversity and has the authority to take action against broadcasters that do not
comply. The CRTC can force a broadcaster to appear before a special public inquiry,
impose special conditions on a license, or grant only a short-term renewal of a license.
However, while the CRTC has this power, it rarely uses it and prefers to attempt to use
the power of persuasion rather than regulation to force broadcasters to comply (Siegel,
1996: 173).
There is a wide range of federal and provincial legislation including Human
Rights legislation and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which deal with
issues related to cultural diversity, race relations and multiculturalism and which prohibit
discrimination on the basis of race, colour, sex, religion and other immutable
characteristics which differentiate people from each other. Some municipalities including
Toronto and Saskatoon also have policies to promote multiculturalism and healthy race
relations. 47 4.2 Media Ownership
In general, concern about ownership of the media is tied to overall recognition of its importance and its influence on how people think about events in their own world
(Demers, 2000: xiii). This recognition also explains why there is so much interest and so much support from media critics and others in promoting the notion that the mainstream mass media be owned by a broad cross section of the public rather than a small number of
elite power brokers (Winter, 1997:1). Under these kinds of circumstances it should come
as no surprise that ownership of the media has always held a special place in the hearts of
Canadians and that many Inquiries and Royal Commissions have been held into broadcasting over the years. The concern as expressed by critics including Ben
Bagdikian (2004: 15) suggests that dominant media owners are highly conservative and
choose employees who have similar leanings: "Owners hire publishers who reflect their views, and who in turn hire and promote managers, who then hire and promote editors
and journalists" (Winter, 1997: 86). Some suggest that the shift towards concentration in media ownership represents a move towards a mass society presided over by a manipulative and conservative power elite which is resistant to changes that do not
support its own interests (Hannigan, 1995: 311)
Media concentration impacts consumers through fewer choices and less diversity,
and limits equality of access and quality (Hackett, Pinet and Ruggles, 1996: 264). But
while some critics worry that the media barons are concerned more about deal-making
and economics than they are about journalism, others argue that this perception is
distorted and ignores the fact that excellence is not determined by ownership but by the
management of the media firm and how it behaves (Picard, 1998: 1995). Of particular 48 interest to those concerned about media content is a concern that the usual corporate priority of making large profits is leading to increasingly superficial news formats which are easier and cheaper to produce. This type of approach results in more uniform content, reduces the space available to report on controversial and complex issues and results in the corporate finances shaping news judgments which can result in the silencing of different points of view (Allan, 1999: 51). It also raises concerns about the points of view of the owners themselves influencing and shaping news and information.
Historically there has been a tendency towards local monopolies in the newspaper business because the costs associated with creating editorial content and publishing
editions are all similar regardless of the circulation of the paper (Audley, 1983: 22). The
ownership of radio and television was generally more diversified but is still concentrated.
The growing cost of producing media content, economy of scale and the drive for profits have resulted in a high degree of concentrated ownership in the media business.
Advertising revenue is used to reduce costs and make profits.
The impact of advertisers can be significant. To avoid offending advertisers,
media enterprises are accused of sometimes tailoring their messages to meet the interests
of the advertisers (Lorimer and McNulty, 1996: 47). Bagdikian describes how several
years ago Readers Digest did an in-depth series linking tobacco to cancer, after which the
advertising agency it had used for 28 years withdrew its services (Bagdikian, 2004: 252).
The agency received $1.3 million in business from Readers Digest, but $22 million in
business from the tobacco industry (Bagdikian, 2004: 254). Clearly when it had to
balance the ire of the tobacco industry against its work for Readers Digest, it decided to
support the company with the bigger cheque. 49 Canada is home to one of the most concentrated media and telecommunications
industries in the world and most of the major corporations in the cultural sector have holdings in several different media (Vipond, 2000: 74-5). For example, while in the past
ownership used to be centred in particular sectors, whereby a corporation might own a
series of newspapers, now the same corporations can own a series of newspapers, TV and
radio stations at the same time and in the same markets. This media convergence is
creating even more powerful media owners (McDayter and Elman, 1971: 46).
In July 2006, Bell Globe media purchased CHUM Ltd. which means that there are
only two major private media conglomerates in Canada, CanWest Global and Bell
Globemedia. CHUM owned and operated 33 radio stations, 12 TV stations and 21
specialty channels. Its addition to the Bell empire significantly expanded the holdings of
Bell Globemedia, which already owned the 21-station CTV television network, a dozen
specialty channels, the Globe and Mail newspaper and several digital TV channels and
internet websites. The merger raised fresh concerns about media concentration, and
worries that consumers would get even weaker diversity in coverage and range of
opinions. Immediately following the merger, Bell Globemedia appeared to live up to
those concerns when CHUM cancelled and restructured news and current-affairs
programming in several cities, laying off almost 300 employees.
The impact of ownership on media content coverage can be seen in the
examination of a few controversial incidents. In December 2001, a fire storm of protest
erupted in the ranks of journalists when CanWest Global decided to follow a common
editorial position on key national and international issues. This move would have reduced
the diversity of news and information in the country and was soundly criticized by many 50 reporters and media observers. It also raised the ire of journalists who were facing homogeneity in news content that they did not support along with the very real likelihood of an accompanying loss in journalistic positions.3 Concerns grew when several CanWest reporters who publicly opposed the policy were reprimanded, suspended or threatened with firings (Canadian Journalists for Free Expression, 2002: np).
These types of incidents are not unheard of in Saskatchewan. A controversy erupted in March 2002 at the Regina Leader-Post after CanWest Global editors rewrote part of a reporter's story on a speech delivered at the University of Regina by a Toronto
Star editorial reporter. The speech focused on the state of journalism in Canada; and was critical of the influence on media content by the Asper family, which controls CanWest
Global (Canada News Wire, March 11,2002). Several reporters at the Leader-Post withdrew their bylines in protest and called for a royal commission on media concentration.
The most recent of the many Commissions and studies into media in Canada is
The Final Report on the Canadian News Media which was produced by the Standing
Senate Committee on Transport and Communications in 2006. The Committee heard from many witnesses concerned about the concentration of media ownership and the potential dangers this poses to the diversity of viewpoints provided to Canadian people.
Many of the people who testified were journalists who argued, among other things, that the closing of news bureaus and the centralization of news coverage reduces the diversity of news and commentaries. CanWest Global's attempt to create national editorials to be
3 The acts of news gathering and production of editorial content are the most expensive elements of running mass media outlets. When media outlets want to reduce costs they tend to cut back on staff, travel and training. 51 run by all its outlets, and ban dissenting editorials, came under considerable criticism by several of those who testified.
Not surprisingly other witnesses, particularly those representing large media companies, argued that concerns about ownership concentration and consolidation are misplaced and that there is no evidence of harm from recent changes in the structure of ownership in the media sector. In the end, the Committee recommended changes to the
Competition Act that would trigger an automatic review of media mergers if certain thresholds are reached and that the CRTC be involved in the review when appropriate
(Senate Committee on Transport and Communication, June 2006: 21). It also recommended that the review be undertaken when it was determined that the public interest might be adversely affected by a lack of diversity in stories and opinions. The
CRTC was advised to revise its regulations to ensure that access to the broadcasting system is encouraged and that a diversity of news and information programming is available through these services. There is a certain amount of irony that just weeks after the Committee issued its report outlining concerns about media concentration, the Bell
Globe purchase of CHUM was announced. Because a powerful elite dominates the production of ideas in the media industry, it is not surprising that the industry and the media sometimes seem accessible primarily to powerful groups and individuals.
4.3 Multiculturalism and Diversity
Canada's policy of multiculturalism was officially unveiled in 1971, as a way to ensure that Canadians from all cultural backgrounds could contribute to Canadian society.
It was the first of its kind in the world and emerged as a uniquely Canadian act of nation building. In 1988, the policy became law with the passing of the Multiculturalism Act, 52 which encourages a vision of Canada based on the values of equality and mutual respect without regard to race, national or ethnic origin, colour and religion. The Act is based on the notion of inclusion and the belief that real participation can be achieved only
if people feel fully accepted and their collective identity is recognized. It encourages racial and ethnic harmony and cross-cultural understanding and discourages
ghettoiziation, hatred, discrimination and violence:
The idea of a multicultural society where all citizens, no matter their origins, can find a place for their own cultural practices, traditions and values, while at the same time being integrated into the social, economic, cultural and political life of the country is now very much a part of who we are as Canadians (Fleras and Elliot, 1992: 35).
Officially, multiculturalism affirms diversity and recognizes that Canadians speak
different languages, practice different faiths, come from diverse cultural backgrounds and
bring diverse experiences and traditions to society: "Implicit in the idea of
multiculturalism is the assumption that members of different ethnic and racial groups
should (ideally) be able to communicate effectively with each other within a context of
legal, social and political equality" (Roth, 1998: np). But while Canadians may agree
with the idea of the right to equal treatment, in reality not all people are treated equitably,
and there is an inequitable distribution of opportunities and rewards, which itself can be
seen as discriminatory (Driedger and Reid, 2000: 156). A stumbling block in achieving
diversity is a general reluctance to accept it because it threatens the existing distribution
of political and economic power and prestige, and because it often implies other needs
that are perceived as expensive (Ungerleider, 1991: 4).
Aboriginal people in Canada are a vital component of Canada's cultural landscape
and diversity. There is no other western country in which Indigenous peoples have 53 achieved such a political status (Kymlicka, 1998: 1). Provisions related to Aboriginal people are embedded in the Constitution Act, 1982 affirming the existence of Aboriginal rights and requiring the government to explore the meaning of these rights with
Aboriginal people (Kymlicka, 1998: 1). In addition, the Canadian. Broadcasting Act
(1991) enshrines the broadcasting rights of Canada's first peoples (Roth, 1996; 73). It
clearly outlines those rights by saying that the system should:
Through its programming and the employment opportunities arising out of its operations, serve the needs and interests, and reflect the circumstances and aspirations, of Canadian men, women and children, including equal rights, the linguistic duality and multicultural and multiracial nature of Canadian society and the special place of aboriginal peoples within that society {Broadcasting Act, s.3(d) (hi)).
Certainly, while Canada prides itself on multiculturalism and diversity, this
diversity is not truly reflected in its newsrooms, those seats of power that produce the news and information programming that have such an impact on people. Despite publicly
funded broadcasting, despite various federal and provincial laws, regulations and policies, the mainstream mass media does not serve Aboriginal people and minorities and indeed
society as a whole as well as it should in terms of diversity in coverage and human
resources. In addition to these external pressures, internal rules and principles which help
form the very structure of news also create problems for the coverage of First Nations
issues in the mainstream media. 54 CHAPTER FIVE
WHAT MAKES NEWS
When mainstream media messages and images are analyzed in terms of how the
consumers view the coverage of First Nations issues, it is helpful to examine the nature
and structure of news as produced by journalists. The two common basic types are often referred to as news stories and feature stories.4 Within these categories there are various
other descriptions and types such as investigative reporting or documentaries. However,
it becomes clear fairly quickly when one examines what constitutes news and feature
stories, that news is more easily produced than defined (Frost, 2000: 10; Hough, 1984: 2;
Lewis, 1984: 11; Roshco, 1999: 32).
There is the old and still often used explanation of John B. Bogart, the former City
Editor of the New York Sun (1783-90) that: "When a dog bites a man, that is not news,
because it happens so often. But if a man bites a dog that is news" (as quoted in Frost,
2000: 18). This expression is still used by journalists today; however, the argument does
not necessarily hold true in that there are several other variables that have to be factored
into the equation. For example, was the dog carrying a deadly virus? Clearly if it was,
and it bit a man, that would be a news story. Did the dog bite a prominent person, such as
the Prime Minister, or did it bite a particularly vulnerable person such as a baby. While
not entirely accurate in today's media world, Bogart's example has come to signify the
apparent media fascination with unusual stories. Another definition of news suggests that
news is what the journalists decide is news. This definition suggests that reporters make
crucial decisions involving the selection of which events to cover and which events to
4 These are sometimes referred to as hard news and soft news with hard news related to solid, factual information and features representing softer, more people-oriented stories. 55 print (Fishman, 1997: 211). Within all the definitions, it is generally understood by media critics that bad news is often thought to be more newsworthy and interesting than good news, and ethnic minorities are more likely to be identified negatively than members of the dominant culture (McQuail, 1992: 165).
Examining news in a more academic fashion, it is generally understood to be factual accounts of what has happened recently and what is anticipated to be newsworthy or of importance to people (Eaman, 1987: 33). To become news, the event has to be recognizable and relatively unambiguous in meaning. The closer the event is to the location of the news outlet or newsperson, the more likely it is to be produced. News stories are often described as people's window on the world: "In every day life, news tells us what we do not experience directly and thus renders otherwise remote happenings, observable and meaningful" (Molotch and Lester, 1997: 37).
Much of the news that people consume each day is about events that they cannot themselves see directly and so they have to rely on descriptions and interpretations of others. What is seen to be a prominent concern in the dominant culture will generally take precedence over concerns of a particular minority. This is not to say that the concerns of a particular minority will not be addressed; but, when they are addressed, they will be examined from the perspective of the dominant culture (Ericson, Baranek and
Chan, 1987: 140). Journalist Michelle Hugh has a visceral feeling for what that perspective of the dominant culture can do to stories related to Aboriginal people in the mainstream mass media:
You can't start a story saying it was land that used to belong to everybody. I have that context, while a lot of people don't and they don't see anything wrong with that, they don't see anything wrong with writing like that. But I know what that 56 Aboriginal perspective means. It's just having a broader knowledge of context (Hugli interview, 2003).
News is generally described by its characteristics. Joseph Pulitzer, the nineteenth
century publisher of the St. Louis Post Dispatch and the New York World, told his editors
to look for stories that were original, distinctive, romantic, thrilling, unique, curious,
quaint, humorous, odd and likely to be talked about (Hough, 1984: 2). One of the best
descriptions of news this author came across included adjectives such as important,
interesting, immediate and unusual (Fuller as cited in Fleras and Kuntz, 2001: 70). The more news characteristics that any individual story satisfies; the more likely it is that the
story will be covered (Chermak, 1995: 41). For Aboriginal reporters the very definition
of news can be problematic to the coverage of Aboriginal issues:
Because the news generally chases after crisis, there are a lot of stereotypes out there, a lot of people whose only exposure to Aboriginal life is what they see in the news. And I think, this is just a feeling here, I don't think I can back this up with specifics, but I also have a sense that when the media try to do stories that are not negative, it tends to go always for certain traditional, cultural stories. While traditional culture is important, and it's important to many Aboriginal people, and it's an important aspect of the life of many Aboriginal people, it's also not all there is (Adam interview, 2005).
Features, sometimes called current affairs, usually have many of the same
characteristics of news, but generally provide more in depth material and provide a more
thorough and lengthy examination. One of the main differences between news and
features is that the feature is not tied to time; it does not have to be current. However, as
with news, the term feature is not entirely or precisely defined even among reporters
themselves.
In the end, both news and features have some similarities and some differences.
Sometimes media outlets use features to cover stories that they do not, or cannot cover on 57 a daily basis in order to examine a particular topic from different angles in a more thorough fashion. The Regina Leader-Post, for example, produces about four special feature sections each year on issues of importance to Aboriginal people. So far it has carried these features sections on topics such as residential schools, young achievers and the First Nations Winter Games. It describes these sections as generally educational, hard-hitting, enlightening and in-depth. Sections such as these can be an interesting and enlightening approach to complex issues, and can play an important role in increasing public awareness of those issues. According to journalist Doug Cuthand, understanding is the key to moving forward in a real way on issues important to Aboriginal people:
If people can understand why, they can come up with the ways and means of dealing with this. The public believes that bigger jails and tougher police is what has to be done. When you examine the reasons behind it, it is poverty, unemployment, lack of education and opportunities. So instead of building bigger jails, start to create more opportunities, affirmative action programs and other things like this (Cuthand interview, 2005).
In writing news stories, journalists were originally expected to be detached spectators, providing factual, unbiased, uninfluenced information. This is called journalistic objectivity, which is a way to ensure the fairness and balance of news.
Objectivity is considered one of the most important principles of journalism through which journalists are expected to keep their personal views out of stories, all sides of the story are to be equally reported and all sides are to be given an equal amount of consideration (Demers, 1999: 100). However, the principle of objectivity is, for many, an ideal that is unrealistic because no person can be a completely detached observer. Even if a journalist manages to avoid his or her own biases, he or she still sees the world and the story that is being covered through his or her own eyes, which are the eyes of their own 58 community and culture (Atkins, 1977: 33). In Canada that culture and community is
generally the white, dominant culture.
In addition to being ideological, the news ideal of objectivity sometimes works
against accurate coverage of minorities. Attempting to achieve balance by providing views on two opposing sides of issues has tended to obscure complex issues such as First
Nations sovereignty, for example, and to lump diverse groups into a single entity (Keever,
Martindale and Weston, 1997: 345). Stories related to minorities therefore often see the minority as one group, pitted against an authority figure of a different culture. Studies have shown that the views of authority or government figures are emphasized more and
questioned less than the views of members of the affected minority (Keever, Martindale
and Weston, 1997: 245). One non-Aboriginal mainstream media journalist who worked
extensively in Aboriginal communities is very critical of the practice of objectivity in
relation to Aboriginal stories. Loreen Pindera, a reporter for CBC radio, is of the view
that reporters need to take sufficient time and examine a number of historical perspectives
in order to gain the trust of Aboriginal people, who have behavioural, cultural and ethical
practices that are different from the dominant practices (Roth, 1996: 80).
In fact, the coverage of minorities by the mainstream media can sometimes be
seen as a violation of the journalistic principles of fairness and accuracy. In other words,
when the definition of news is applied to the coverage of minorities it tends to distort their
lives and stories (Keever, Martindale and Weston, 1997: 344). Minorities are portrayed
as people with problems who are culturally exotic and separate from the larger
community (Keever, Martindale and Weston, 1997: 245). Doug Cuthand says this kind
of coverage is very disappointing and all too common and provided a specific example 59 involving a well-known chuckwagon racer from the Loon Lake First Nation in
Saskatchewan:
I was in Calgary doing reporting on the Calgary Stampede Chuckwagon races, and Ray Mitsuing, who is a very well known chuckwagon racer here in Saskatchewan and has been at the Calgary Stampede for 26 years in a row, this year, instead of wearing a cowboy hat, he was wearing a helmet. That became the focal story. They did a story on him and that was the story, despite the fact that Ray was the leader for seven nights in a row. They didn't write on that, they wrote on the fact that he was wearing this funny new hat. Ray was upset. I thought, oh Lord can't you do a story on the man himself; where he had come from and why he was so successful. Sometimes, it's not that uncommon that we are treated as oddities (Cuthand interview, 2005).
The story that Doug produced examined chuckwagon racing in the context of First
Nations and Metis people on the Plains and their long history of working with horses. At the time of the debate over his hat, Mitsuing had been leading for seven nights in a row in his competition and had the best aggregate time.
Some suggest that the elite domination of the media and the subtle marginalization
of dissident voices happens so naturally that reporters, often operating with complete
integrity and goodwill, believe that they are choosing and interpreting the news
objectively and on the basis of professional news values (Herman and Chomsky, 2001:
281). Whatever the external reality, human beings perceive it from their own perspective,
using their own concepts (Gans, 1997: 236). Hugh finds this notion easy to understand:
"Yes, you try to be fair and objective, but every decision you make is based on your own
experience. Every decision is just based on your past experience and what's most
important to you might not be what's most important to me" (Hugli interview, 2003).
Hugh says the best a reporter can do is try to be objective, but, in that context, if reporters
do not have the knowledge or background on a topic they are going to make ill-informed 60 decisions in the field. The example she used is reporters who discuss land rights and the context of the last 50 years or so. To her, that is not enough. She argues that reporters should have to go back to the signing of the treaties and before the treaties. In today's mass media one can see a growing erosion of even the concept of objectivity with the growth of point of view journalism. This is journalism that contains the point of view of the journalist in question in addition to the facts.5
5.1 Selecting News
In terms of day-to-day operations, media outlets tend to depend on representatives of elite organizations for news content through the use of their news releases, their officials and other information provided (Demers, 2000: 112). If you examine where most news stories originate, you will notice that many are anchored in centres of power such as provincial legislatures, the House of Commons, court houses, police stations, city halls. In fact, much of the news we see and hear in the mainstream media on a daily basis is related to what the powerful are doing or saying (Taras, 1999: 36). Aboriginal and minority journalists have complained in the past that the newsroom policy itself often eliminates stories that do not fit the traditional mold (Campbell, 1995: 31). This reliance is often due to economy and convenience. The media tends to concentrate its resources on where 'important' news is likely to happen, where press conferences may be held and information is relatively easily accessible. This type of approach does not necessarily bode well for Aboriginal or minority stories that may be more complicated, difficult and time consuming to put together.
5 Point of view journalism is not to be confused with columnists, commentators, or editorial writers who are specifically hired to provide opinions and whose items are essentially identified as opinion pieces rather than as news. 61 Well, I think the main thing right off the top, is a lack of resources given to reporters who cover the issues. I think that the issues are complex and all of them fall into a huge context and many journalists sent to cover stories just don't have that context (Adam interview, 2005).
In addition to the ease of access, government and corporate sources are generally recognizable and seen as credible due to their perceived status and prestige in mainstream
society.
In producing news, journalists have to balance many forces such as deadlines,
audience and interest and the space available. At the same time they have to be able to
get the story; in other words they need sources to cooperate. As mentioned, sources
connected with elite institutions are usually easier to access, particularly when the story is
perceived as being positive to their organization. On the other hand, Aboriginal stories
sometimes present unique challenges; for example, they may be located on a reserve that
is difficult to get to, the individuals involved may speak another language and there may
be cultural guidelines for how media requests are handled. This can pose problems for
non-Aboriginal reporters, or those reporters unfamiliar with Aboriginal issues. Cuthand's
response was:
I found that very often you're dealing with reporters in the mainstream media who don't know how to approach Indians, they don't know everything, they don't understand. Some of them don't want to go on reserves, they're scared, the public is getting a very distorted picture (Cuthand interview, 2005).
The result of this lack of knowledge is that the mainstream media often misses
stories of importance to First Nations and Metis people, which can help to perpetuate
negative attitudes in the general public. In fact, some accuse the Canadian mass media of
perpetuating and reproducing racism in their stories while maintaining an image of
neutrality and objectivity (Henry, Tator, Mattis and Rees, 2000: 326). The cultural studies thesis is that the media is a powerful tool in explicating the dominant ideology and that instead of occupying the middle ground of fairness as they like to claim, they actually help to create that middle ground (Croteau and Hoynes, 1997: 173). The middle ground is considered to be the 'balanced' space which provides the true picture. Croteau and Hoynes argue that this middle ground is ideological, precisely because it is a cultural site where common sense assumptions are produced, reproduced and circulated (Croteau and Hoynes, 1997: 172).
5.2 Audience
It is important to include discussion of the audience in any examination of mass media or mass communication because without an audience there would be no mass media. "It is for the audience that the media are constructing and conveying information, and, if it were not for the audiences, the media would not exist" (Hanes, 2000: np). The mass media audience is made up of many individuals with diverse backgrounds, who interpret reality within a structure of beliefs derived from the communications they receive from sources including the media, school and word of mouth (Demers, 1992: xiii). Williams suggests that the people are shaped by their entire experience and that even the most skillful message will not be communicated if it does not fit with those experiences (Williams, 1966: 313). The importance of audience and the symbiosis between the audience and the mass media has resulted in the production of many related studies and theories (Hiebert, Ungurait and Bohn, 1995: 183).
Hall's seminal work on the production and reception of broadcast media messages examined a system of what he called encoding and decoding (Hall, 1981: 136). Hall's argument is that the production and reception of media messages are two independent 63 processes in a larger system of communications. In this sense, one could not make assumptions about how a member of the audience would interpret the message, and whether that meaning would be the one the producer of the message intended. That having been said, the encoded message did carry a preferred or dominant meaning (Hall,
1981: 135). The viewer could accept that dominant meaning, oppose it, or negotiate a different position (Hall, 1981: 136-37). How a person interprets a particular message is based on a number of things including the interests the individual brings to the message.
"The process of 'reading', in other words, is influenced by a range of factors that includes the structure of the text itself, the social context within which the text is read, the cultural affinities of readers and the ways in which cultural factors influence their reading competencies, predispositions, opportunities, and likes and dislikes" (Boyd Barrett, 1995:
499). David Morley, who wrote on audience research conducted at the Centre for contemporary Cultural Studies at the University of Birmingham, put it his way: "We experience a multiplicity of discourses, and the space in which we exist is crossed by a number of different discourses, some of which support each other, are in alignment with each other, some of which contradict each other, some of which we relate to positively, some negatively" (Morley, 1992: 77).
While we commonly talk about the mass media, many suggest there is no such thing as a mass audience, or that a mass audience has been constituted only at momentous instances in history such as the assassination of former U. S. president, John F. Kennedy or the funeral of Princess Diana (Hiebert, Ungurait and Bohn, 1995: 189; Hiebert and
Gibbons, 2000: 110). Those who criticize the term 'mass' in the context of audience suggest that it implies that an audience is undifferentiated by things such as taste or social class and that it consumes a standardized diet of popular culture (Webster and Phalen,
1997: 10). Instead, rather than talking about a mass media audience, they suggest that one should talk about an audience of the mass media. This latter point of view is similar to the belief that the effects of communications are partly dependent on the characteristics of the individual members of the audience who receive the communications messages
(Lowery and DeFleur, 1995: 180). Researchers with this view believe that the process by which people understand a message depends in part on the beliefs they bring to the message, and how these beliefs are utilized. This suggests that the audience selects and interprets media messages according to their own context and experiences (Vipond, 1992:
112).
Some suggest that journalists in general do not know their audience and tend to visualize them as colleagues who work with them in their newsroom or work in other newsrooms; in other words, they tend to visualize their audience as other journalists
(DeWerth-Pallmeyer, 1997: 2). Another perspective suggests that most journalists take their audience for granted and in doing so they themselves become the representatives of the audience: "If reporters know that they are writing to a predominantly white, suburban audience that is likely to affect the way they write" (DeWerth-Pallmeyer, 1997: 47).
These perspectives suggest that a journalist's perceptions of the audience are often stereotypical and based on subjective feelings (Hagen, 1999: 134). This is generally bad news for minority audience members who for the most part are not proportionately represented in the journalistic ranks of the mainstream media and therefore do not see sufficient reflection of themselves and their issues in the media. Fiddler offers her perspective: 65 What they see is a media that doesn't represent them. That's what they see when they look at CBC. That's what they see when they look at CTV. They see, sort of, one Aboriginal person. Everyone makes the joke about the token black in the movie, who's like the sidekick, and he makes jokes. I just saw it yesterday with The Incredibles. A great movie, but again, a sidekick. That's sort of what's missing, that's what you still don't see in the media, the people who are representing us in their newsroom (Fiddler interview, 2005).
The very structure of the mass media news is in part responsible for the type of coverage that Aboriginal people and minorities receive. In addition, in envisioning their audience, journalists tend to structure their reporting to appeal to the dominant society, which in too many cases may be represented by the other journalists in their newsroom.
While these journalists are not necessarily representative of the audience they role they play in determining what that audience receives cannot be overstated. 66 CHAPTER SIX
DELIVERING THE NEWS
When reporters and editors decide what news is, they are defining what is in the public interest to know (Lewis, 1984: 11). Journalists, reporters and other media content producers are central to the media enterprise, in that they are the ones who actually produce the information. They not only select which voices will be heard, but they also reconstruct the interpretations of the situation through sequencing and arranging
(Robinson and Charron, 1989: 153). In other words, the role of the journalist involves a series of choices about what stories to tell and how to tell them (Lorimer and Gasher,
2004: 220). If their choices involve too many negative stories the results can be predictable. Journalist Doug Cuthand argues that if the general public gets continuously negative stories about Aboriginal people they are going to have negative opinions engrained in their psyches:
The general public looks on Indian people as emotional, dysfunctional, addicted to something and planning their next crime, because that's what they read in the papers all the time. They think we just want more and more, that we're a bunch of welfare recipients and all our leaders are corrupt; the list goes on and on because these are the stories that the media cover. Granted, there are a lot of problems in our society, but at the same time you have to look at the other side and all the good things that are happening (Cuthand interview, 2005).
Even when there are minority journalists, it is accepted that there are pressures to conform, and in some cases minority journalists may be hired for their ability to fit in, rather than for their diverse voices (Allan, 1999: 182-82). At the same time, the news the minority journalists are producing is directed to the majority white audience. In addition the presence of minority journalists or Aboriginal journalists is not a guarantee that their coverage of minority or Aboriginal issues will be well-informed and contextualized. Some suggest that when journalists produce news stories they carry a "frame"
that they clamp over the story. The frame represents the expectations and requirements
they bring to the story. Those stories that do not fit the frame of the journalist tend not to be covered or are down-played (Taras, 1999: 84). "The coverage of issues affecting racial minorities is filtered through the stereotypes, misconceptions and erroneous
assumptions of largely white reporters, journalists and editors (Henry, Tator, Mattis and
Rees, 2000: 319). Aboriginal journalists believe that the education of existing reporters
related to First Nations and Metis issues will go a long way to improving the coverage of
Aboriginal issues in the mainstream mass media. This kind of education could be
provided in journalism schools, and it could also be provided in the newsrooms
themselves. Bird says he saw student knowledge grow in a course that he taught at the
Journalism School at the University of Regina:
The students loved the course. I learned so much from them. It was a two-way thing, I saw them actually change their opinions, their attitudes, almost their perceptions, in front of me, right in front of my eyes. In four months they changed their attitudes. Not all of them, but most of them did. Now I know, thank you they'd say, I didn't know what a powwow was. Now they know what a sweat lodge is, now they know what a pipe ceremony is. Give them the tools. When they go to mainstream newsrooms now, if they decide to, it gives them an up on every reporter in the newsroom. If they are going to go to a community now, they know how to approach a chief, they know how to approach an Elder, they know where so and so reserve is located, in Saskatchewan anyway. So that's what needs to be done (Bird interview, 2005).
This kind of perspective was shared by all six Aboriginal journalists. Mervin
Brass says most non-Aboriginal reporters do not have adequate knowledge about
Aboriginal issues because the school system does not provide this kind of education. He
says he has worked in other places where co-workers have asked him about important 68 topics such as treaties and residential schools, because they want to increase their own knowledge.
6.1 Gatekeepers
As important as journalists are in the production of mass media news, their activities are assigned, supervised and directed by others such as editors or producers.
These senior employees are responsible for making the major day-to-day editorial decisions in the newsroom. In the mainstream mass media business, their function is described as gatekeeping. The gatekeeper determines what stories are done, how they are done and who does them, and in doing so is determining what the audience is going to read, see or hear. Closing the gate, or not allowing stories to be done, is as problematic as misrepresentation in that absence of stories also contributes to distortions or inaccuracies
(Gordon, Kittross and Reuss, 1996: 138).
It is generally understood that the individual gatekeeper, just like the reporter, has likes and dislikes and ways of thinking that all impact on the individual's decision making process (Shoemaker, 1997: 62). In choosing certain stories and ignoring or downplaying others because they are not considered newsworthy, the gatekeeper brings his or her own values and prejudices to work (Ward, 1995: 77). In other words, reasons for accepting or rejecting stories are highly subjective and news is very much based on the gatekeeper's own set of expectations and attitudes (White, 1999: 72).
In Canada there are relatively few Aboriginal journalists and even fewer
Aboriginal news gatekeepers. This means that most news is produced by people who represent the dominant society and perceive stories through that cultural prism (Ericson,
Baranek and Chan, 1987: 140). "If the decisions about what to cover and how to cover it 69 are made mainly by white men, and if that coverage is mainly guided and edited by white men, it's not surprising that operative news values reflect mainly white male perspectives and sensitivities" (Gordon, Kinross and Reuss, 1996: 143). The need for more Aboriginal decision-makers is not lost on Aboriginal journalists:
I think before we can see any change in the mainstream media we need to have First Nations people or Aboriginal people in decision-making positions. I had this conversation a couple of years ago, with someone who has a Filipino background, who said that she doesn't want to see more Filipinos on TV, but she wants to see them as producers, in management, because that's where the changes are going to come, and I thought, she is so right (Hugh interview, 2003).
Bird agrees and says he is fortunate to have a good producer:
I think news directors are the answer, I think that's the answer. Directors are the main focus of the change; they have to be the ones to accept it. There are a lot of news directors who are not open-minded enough to make the change or are willing to. There are a few. Mine, for example, is a good example of supporting diversity and accepting, and just let's get this story because it's a little bit different. He's the best for me, he gives me advice. He says to me for example, I don't know how sweat lodges work; maybe you should do a story on that and have a feature. He'll give me that idea because that's what he's interested in. I think that's the open mindedness that's important for news directors and assignment editors, and that's one of the answers (Bird interview, 2005).
Fiddler argues getting Aboriginal people into those decision-making gatekeeper positions is difficult, if not impossible, because there are so few Aboriginal journalists to begin with: "When you are not on the ground you cannot move up, when you can't move up you can't be groomed for those positions and we know, when it comes to management people, they are groomed to move up in that manner, so if no one is down here it doesn't work" (Fiddler interview, 2005).
The gatekeeper theory is important and goes a long way to explaining some of the coverage that viewers and readers see and hear about Aboriginal issues. However there is more to this story than gatekeepers; other factors also come into play with the decisions 70 of the gatekeeper, such as the nature of the mass media organization, the ownership, the role of the organization and the proximity of the news story. However, there is no doubt the gatekeeper is an important element in Aboriginal coverage, and that if there were more Aboriginal gatekeepers this would influence the types of stories that are being covered, how they are being covered and bring more and better Aboriginal stories to the public.
6.2 Hiring Practices
Statistics suggest that Canadian news organizations are primarily made up of white middle-class males with a higher level of education than the average person
(Lorimer and Gasher, 2004: 225). Of about 12,000 full-time journalists in Canada in
2004, 30 percent worked in daily newspapers, 27 percent worked in radio, 22 percent in television and three percent in magazines and wire services. The CBC was the largest employer of all outlets with 19 percent of all journalists. The average age of a journalist was 39.7 years, 72 percent were male, 56 percent had university degrees, and 97.7 percent were white (Lorimer and Gasher, 2004: 225).
These statistics are similar to a 1994 survey of 41 newspapers which showed that of 2,260 employees only 67 or 2.6 percent were non-white, which was five times less than the proportion of non-whites in the general public, and of those 67 non-whites, only four were Aboriginal (Miller, 1997: 135):
That means that Aboriginal Canadians are 70 times less likely to be employed by daily newspapers than their numbers in society would seem to warrant, a shockingly bad inclusion rate and one that may help explain the endemic stereotyping and marginalization of native people in the press (Canadian Association of Newspaper Editors, 2004: 7). 71 Publishers and editors do not appear to recognize the opportunities or the urgency involved in improving coverage and hiring visible minorities and Aboriginal employees (Balkan, 1997: 125). A telephone survey in 1997 and 1998 of 123 English- speaking journalists employed by what could be considered Canada's most influential media outlets, the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, the Financial Post and selected
Southam and Sun chain newspapers as well as CBC, CTV and Baton Broadcasting,
showed similar patterns (Miljan and Cooper, 2003: 67-8). In 2005, an examination of the
National Press Gallery in Ottawa showed that only five percent of the journalists who report on the federal government and national politics were visible minorities
(Vongdouangchanh, 2005: 3). This under-representation concerns the Aboriginal journalists interviewed:
I know the push to bring in more visible minorities. I think that there are a lot more educated First Nations people, way more than most people think. And I look at the CBC, and I say my God, they seem to be hiring, I don't say this to be rude, but they seem to have a fixation on Indians; East Indians and Asian Indians, rather than First Nations (Hugh interview, 2003).
Aboriginal people are usually overrepresented in stories related to problems such
as crime and conflict (Nancoo and Nancoo, 1996: 48). Journalist Doug Cuthand admits
there are many problems in the Aboriginal community; however he says there are also
many good things happening. Cuthand argues that one problem is that the media devotes
a lot of time to covering events such as court cases, where you tend to see a lot of
Aboriginal people in a negative light. This negative coverage is a serious problem in the
face of the growing non-white population in Canada. Aboriginal people and those who
self-identify as visible minorities made up 16.7 percent of the population in the 2001
Canadian Census, up from 11.7 percent in 1991. Aboriginal people are the fastest 72 growing segment of the Canadian population, they are generally younger and they are having more children than other Canadians. Perhaps these statistics will eventually help
act as a wake-up call for the mass media and serve as a reminder that more serious efforts need to be made to ensure that Aboriginal people and issues are fairly reflected in mainstream media representations.
Over the years the media has come under some pressure to address diversity in the
newsroom and diversity in the news, and media operations have made several strides in
that direction. However, there are still those, such as a deputy editor of the Calgary
Herald, who said in an interview in 2001 that diversity had not been identified as a
concern by his readers or by his employers: "I don't think the media should go out and
socially engineer the demographics of its newsroom to reflect the demographics of its
readership" (Barahona, 2001: np). These kinds of comments and non-actions leave some
scholars accusing the media of being negligent in responding positively to Canada's
Aboriginal and racial diversity (Fleras, 1995: 2).
The mass media is at best slow, and at worst unwilling to learn the lessons of
diversity and tackling problems associated with stereotyping and understanding. At a
time of downsizing in news organizations, limited resources, global and technological
advances and competition, balancing diversity issues becomes even more of a challenge
(Nancoo and Nancoo, 1996: 55). There are a number of ways for the media to become
more inclusive such as enabling the training and hiring of more Aboriginal journalists,
including the gatekeepers who make the decisions about which stories are tackled,
enlisting the valuable knowledge of Aboriginal people who are on staff, and incorporating
more reflective non-stereotypical Aboriginal stories. 73 Despite the challenges and the barriers, the mainstream media should pursue the ideal of becoming more reflective of diversity. The fact is that stereotypes continue to be seen and heard in the media and that the diversity of Canadian society, particularly in terms of Aboriginal people, is not truly reflected in the mass media of the country. This lack of diversity means that those who depend on the mass media to help them understand issues are not getting the real picture when it comes to Aboriginal issues:
We need more First Nations journalists out there; for sure we need more qualified journalists because you don't want to just hire people because they are First Nations or Aboriginal. I agree with a lot of employment equity programs. I agree with them because I think that there needs to be something there, but of course everyone has to be qualified. But why isn't there more, they are not being hired? (Hugh interview, 2003).
Michelle Hugh did not suggest only Aboriginal journalists are capable of writing
Aboriginal stories. In that sense she and the other journalists interviewed agree with Hall when he suggested that products are not necessarily good or better just because black people make them (Hall, 1996b: 443).
It is suggested that the lack of media diversity impacts all minorities. However, as indigenous people, First Nations people are more fundamental to the sense of Canadian history by having been here first and having helped to shape the country that evolved
(Browne, 1996: 6). All Canadians except for Indians and Inuit are immigrants or descendants of immigrants. "Indian people cannot be brushed off with the multiculturalism broom to join diverse ethnic groups" (Manuel and Posluns, 1983: 16).
First Nations people rightly refuse to be labeled as another ethnic group. They define themselves as sovereign entities whose collective rights are guaranteed because of their original occupation of the land (Elliot and Fleras, 1992: 157). Their rights are based on the fact that they occupied vast areas, and had their own languages, cultures, traditions, and systems of government, long before Europeans arrived.
John Miller, former Chair of the Diversity Committee for the Canadian Daily
Newspaper Association who conducted that 1994 survey of Canadian daily newspapers, has a clear explanation for the problem - institutional racism (Barahona, 2001: np). In other words, it is not a conscious effort to exclude, but rather a more subconscious effect where employers hire people they are comfortable with, who look like them and think like them (Barahona, 2001: np). In terms of the mass media this results in a staff largely made up of the most numerous racial group in society (Lorimer and Scannell, 1994: 105).
It is generally accepted in Canada that systemic discrimination exists in the workplace and constitutes a serious problem (Henry and Tator, 2002: Henry and Tator,
2001; Kranz, 2002; Kunz, Milan and Schetagne, 2003; Wiener, 1993). The official
Canadian position is that when systems discriminate in this fashion there is an obligation to correct the situation. The 1986 Employment Equity Act was passed by the federal government to address systemic discrimination affecting women, Aboriginal people, the disabled and visible minorities in crown corporations and agencies owned by the federal government.
Legislation was required because there was a growing recognition that voluntary compliance measures were not working, that the workforce was not representative and there was persistent inequality. The idea was to address the discriminatory effects of past employment practices and policies and ensure employment equity in the workplace so that no person would be denied employment for reasons unrelated to the ability to do the job (Samuel and Schachhuber, 1996: 25). Various equity initiatives now exist in almost 75 all Canadian jurisdictions. However, Aboriginal journalists are unconvinced that all this legislation is working in the media, even though more and more young Aboriginal people are getting the proper education. Fiddler worries that even when Aboriginal people are hired, they sometimes become disillusioned relatively quickly: "And you get so frustrated on the ground, like I have seen so many students who've gone into the media and within two years they are working in communications. Why is that? Because the government takes hiring visible minorities a lot more seriously than media organizations"
(Fiddler interview, 2005).
In terms of the mass media as a workplace, and broadcasting in particular, it is generally accepted that it is necessary to have fair representation of the population in terms of ethnicity. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982) applies to all collective agreements to which the government is a party. It also has significant impact on private and public employers that are not considered federal because of its application to federal and provincial human rights legislation (Carter, 2000: iii). Newspaper operations are not regulated in the same fashion as broadcast outlets and do not come under equity legislation (Canadian Association of Newspapers Editors, 2004: 3).
In terms of equity, Section 15 of the Charter is the most applicable and states that all people are equal before and under the law and have the right to equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination (Carter, 2000: iii). There is a wide range of provincial and federal policies and bodies of legislation which deal with issues related to cultural diversity, race relations and multiculturalism (Samuel and Schachhuber, 1996:
26). While racial ethnic groups have experienced improvements in their
employment conditions they, especially Aboriginal people, are still relatively
disadvantaged (Kunz, Milan and Schetagne, 2003: 6). It is clear that the mainstream
media still does not reflect Canadian diversity in hiring or in journalistic practices.
"Nowhere is this better demonstrated than in the employment arena; hardly any minority journalists are employed in the print and electronic media, and their representation does
not reflect their numbers in society "(Henry and Tator, 2002: 54). Research done by
Federico Barahona into Canadian newspapers in 2001 supports this thesis. Barahona
concluded that editors of Canada's daily newspapers were not overly concerned about
minority representation in their newsrooms. The editors' comments ranged from the
notion that few minorities apply for mainstream media positions, to suggestions that
deliberately increasing the ethnic makeup of the newsrooms would result in socially
engineering the demographics of the newsroom, which, in one editor's view, is not a good
practice (Barahona, 2001: np).
The United States also often comes under fire for its lack of minority journalists,
despite the recommendations of the Kerner Commission in 1968, which was established
after riots broke out in black sections of many major U.S. cities. The Commission was
charged with analyzing the specific triggers for the riots, the deeper causes of the
worsening racial climate and making recommendations on how to improve relations.
The Commission's final report found a significant imbalance between what happened in
the riots and what the media reported. It found the disorders were less disruptive, less
widespread and less a black-white confrontation than audiences were led to believe, and
suggested the media did not adequately report the root causes of the riots (Report of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, 1968: 20). The media was accused
of being a mouthpiece for the power structure and for relying on authority figures such as
the police for all the information rather than from black people themselves. The
Commission pointed to a lack of black journalists, suggesting that increasing those
numbers would bring more equitable coverage and perspective to the news (Wilson,
2000: 86).
The U.S. media is still accused of a lack of diversity and that is seen as one of the reasons why the public is sometimes lacking in understanding of diversity issues. A 2001
study found that most whites in the U.S. believe black people have reached social and
economic parity, when in fact that economic and social gap is far from closed: "Clearly,
the disconnect across racial lines that has so long characterized American society persists,
not only in the society at-large, but in the national news media whose job it is to help
Americans talk to one another" (Pease, Smith and Subervi, 2001:5). There have also
been suggestions of closet racism in that news departments did not cover murders or
kidnappings in minority communities but swarmed over similar events in the white
section of town. This is similar to arguments heard in Canada. Bud White Eye has a
particular story.
White Eye was a former reporter with CBC radio in Ontario, when two unrelated
murders took place in the London area (White Eye, 1996: 92). One victim was a white
University of Western Ontario student, the other was a First Nations youth living in
London. In the case of the white victim, it was believed she was killed after she stopped
her car on Highway 401 to check the condition of her vehicle. The initial media reports
were headlined and the story ran for several days and periodically after that for several months. The stones resulted in sympathy for the family and generated public concern about the impact of random violence. Two years later the police released more evidence on the case to the media, hoping people would help in the investigation (White Eye, 1996:
92). The second case involved an Aboriginal man believed to have been abducted and later killed. The Aboriginal victim did not make the news headlines. There was one follow-up story at the time and another a year-and-a-half later saying that the police still viewed the case as a mystery. There was no mention of a hotline or a continuing investigation or a plea for help from the public, all of which were connected to the murdered white girl:
First Nations community members and family easily recognized the different treatment and the subtle message that was conveyed: the white woman's case was worth expanded coverage, the case of the "dead Indian" had little chance of increasing news sales and did not merit continuing coverage (White Eye, 1996: 93).
In another incident, White Eye writes about trying to work on a story related to
Walpole Island, a First Nations reserve situated between Ontario and Michigan. A producer rejected the story on the basis that two Native stories had already been done that week. When Bud asked how many 'white' stories had been done, the producer got very angry: "Come on Bud, you know what I mean" (White Eye, 1996: 95). Indeed he did,
White Eye left the CBC to work in the Aboriginal media. The state of mainstream coverage of the Aboriginal media today would indicate that White Eye would still have the same concerns today that he had then. CHAPTER SEVEN
MINORITY COVERAGE IN MAINSTREAM MEDIA
Increasingly over the years, critics have argued that the mainstream media does not accurately reflect Aboriginal people and visible minorities in Canadian society (Alia,
1999; Fleras and Kunz, 2001; Meadows, 2001). They are usually depicted in four key ways: as invisible or irrelevant; as stereotypes; as social problems; and as tokens for entertainment (Fleras, 1995: 410). A 1992 study of Aboriginal people in routine
Canadian news stories shows that their presence was significantly less pronounced than their representation in Canadian society (Nancoo and Nancoo, 1996: 48), and there is little doubt that this situation continues today. Writing about coverage of northern issues,
Alia (1999: 28) suggests that mainstream media editors have made little progress in their knowledge of the North, minorities and Aboriginal issues, which means that they are sometimes unable to see mistakes and misrepresentations that appear in stories. The impact of this under-representation is a certain invisibility of Aboriginal people in mainstream media stories, particularly in the day-to-day stories other non-Aboriginal people appear in.
The portrayal of minorities as social problems means stories related to crisis and conflict (Fleras and Elliot, 1992: 238). This results in a predominance of mainstream media stories that report on negative issues and treat First Nations stories on a superficial level with not enough regard to context or the Aboriginal perspectives and the overuse of stereotypes and distortions (Keever, Martindale and, 1997: 343). In discussing the mainstream media's coverage of northern issues Alia with Higgins (1999: 144) suggest that there is a persistent bias in the mainstream media towards the coverage of crises: "This preference for, or tendency toward, "disaster coverage" - a product of conventional training and thinking in southern journalism schools and media - creates a perception of the North as hostile, dangerous, remote, and foreign" (Alia, 1999: 158)
Portrayals of Aboriginal people as stereotypes include a picture of people who are poor, on welfare, perhaps drunks or all these categories at the same time. These stereotypes are reinforced, enhanced and then integrated into even broader systems of meaning (Gandy, 1998: 4). While it would be inaccurate to suggest there are no First
Nations drunks or criminals, the problem is that stereotyping makes a group seem homogeneous, where behaviors are taken out of context, and associated with everyone in the group. While critics see problems with this coverage, so do Aboriginal people who have a negative perception of the mainstream media's coverage of their issues and accuse them of unfair and inadequate reporting (Fleras and Elliot, 1992: 238). Fighting their portrayal to the rest of society is nothing new for Aboriginal people who have struggled with the nature of their interaction with others in relation to the media's popular representations for years (Valaskakis, 1998: 1). Valaskakis regards the media with an almost resigned acceptance, as a site of invaluable public discourse, but a discourse from which Aboriginal people are, and have always been, excluded. "Since the earliest days of the non-Native contact, the stories of Aboriginal people have been constructed and disseminated by outsiders for outsiders (Valaskakis, 1998: 1).
The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) concluded that too many stories about Aboriginal people are negative and too many of those stories are told by non-Aboriginal people: "In the mainstream media, stories may seem to speak for
Aboriginal people when the voice actually originates in the consciousness and experience 81 of the non-Aboriginal writers" (RCAP vol. 3. 1996). The Commission, as with other critics and media scholars, suggested that the media focuses primarily on conflict and confrontation. This is a serious problem given the overwhelming importance of the mass media in informing us about the world around us, interpreting and explaining its meaning
(Hiebert and Gibbons, 2000: 1).
A 1992 study of the CBC and CTV national evening news casts showed that only a few of the stories actually had minorities in them. Of 756 interview subjects, only four percent of the subjects were visible minorities and 3.1 percent were Aboriginal (as cited in Henry and Tator, 2002: 165). That same year, Statistics Canada indicated that visible minorities accounted for 6.4 percent of the general population and First Nation people made up 3.6 percent. While the number of stories produced was not that much different from the actual number of minorities and Aboriginal people, when one examines the stories in question, another picture emerges. Almost all the stories with minority sources in them were actually about minority issues, few were about general interest stories such as taxes and political issues:
.. .When consideration was given to the content of the stories in which visible minorities and Native people were seen, it was found that almost all the stories in which non-Whites appeared were about non-Whites. There were only twenty stories on general topics, such as politics, taxes and so on- in which non-whites were interviewed (Henry and Tator, 2002: 165).
This is similar to the concerns of the reporters interviewed for this project, particularly Michelle Hugh, who was quite perturbed with the way Aboriginal sources were treated by the newsroom. She told a story about a panel of three people who were used on the CBC TV supper hour news. The panel was made up of two journalists and a communications consultant, all non-Aboriginal. They spoke about a story related to increases in taxes and then moved on to a story about 'Baby Andy,' a well-known
Saskatchewan story about the death of a young First Nations child, who under the supervision of the Aboriginal Child and Family Services Agency on his reserve, was placed in a home that had known abuse issues. Baby Andy died in the care of his mother's boyfriend, who was charged in connection with his death.
Michelle was at home watching the panel and enjoying the discussion of the panel on federal-provincial relations until it got to the Baby Andy story, the discussion about child care on reserves. The next day in the newsroom she asked why the producers did not have an Aboriginal person on the panel to provide an Aboriginal perspective on
Aboriginal child care on reserves in addition to the white panelists who had little contact with reserves. The answer was that the panel was also talking about taxation, which was a non-Aboriginal issue. Michelle was very angry with the response:
And they said oh yeah, that's an idea, we thought about that, but we were talking about federal-provincial relations earlier in the panel and so it wasn't really an Aboriginal issue. And I said why can't an Aboriginal person talk about federal- provincial relations? We live in provinces in Canada. Why can't we talk about that? So I said you are basically saying that an Aboriginal person can only talk about Aboriginal issues on our show. I didn't say it like that, I was tactful, but that was the point (Hugh interview, 2003).
After Michelle's intervention, she was told the producers would keep this in mind for next time; but there no real acknowledgement that there might have been a problem with the panel discussion in the first place. Hugh says it is all about treating Aboriginal people like regular people, not just treating them like political people who can only speak to Aboriginal issues.
Doug Cuthand shares similar concerns: 83 Quite frankly I am quite disappointed with how the mainstream media deals with our issues. I'm talking about First Nations and Metis people but other minorities as well. It's written by a group of middle-class people, in a middle- class setting and you know they tend to carry a lot of baggage with them (Cuthand interview, 2005).
In particular, many reporters lack context within which to place minority issues.
While one can talk about the freedom of the press and objectivity, it is generally accepted that those with power, whether they be individuals, groups, or organizations, have more access to the media. The role of the media is important, because it occupies a key site and performs a crucial role in the public representation of unequal social relations.
7.1 Stereotyping
A key problem identified in the media coverage of Aboriginal people and minorities in the media is the use of stereotypes. This concept, as a mental image, was constructed in the early 1920s by Walter Lippman (1889-1974), a distinguished columnist, author and diplomat who referred to stereotypes as the "pictures in our heads of others, of the identity and nature of others (as quoted in Grossberg, Wartella and Whitney, 1998: 221).
Lippman believed that people created stereotypes to help with the confusion of everyday reality (Johansen, 1997: 514). Stereotypes, whether negative or positive, are usually inaccurate because of the way they portray a social group or category as homogeneous.
Stereotyping is not just the use the use of language or factual inaccuracies, nor is it related only to the use of negative images. It is also related to selecting the stories that will be reported, the way the stories are organized and written, where they are placed and the headlines utilized (Weston, 1996: 163). One-sided stereotypical stories can become the basis of a mistaken reality in the absence of alternative portrayals and contextual news stories (Wilson and Gutierrez, 1985: 41-2). The result is a society of people who, in large part, have built and continue to build their views about Aboriginal people based on inaccurate coverage (Briggs, Arviso, McAuliffe and Edmo Suppah, 20002: XIV; Switzer,
1999a; Wilson and Gutierrez, 1985).
Aboriginal stereotypes include depictions of people who are usually involved in issues such as crime, poverty and alcohol.6 Stereotyping is particularly problematic in the understanding of First Nations people and issues because many non-Aboriginal people do not have first hand contact with First Nations people as co-workers or friends. Their information comes from the media, and if that information is stereotypical, or less than accurate, people are getting false images with which to gain understanding and frame their discourse. This is hurtful to First Nations journalists who see those images frequently, sometimes coming from their newsroom colleagues. In Hugh's words:
"They're people, they're not perpetrators. They are not all these labels we give people, they are real people" (Hugh interview, 2003). Cuthand says providing accurate information is the start:
There are some people, no matter what you do they'll never change their minds, but there are others that once they get the facts, will start to make different decisions. So like they won't get all panicky when Indians move in next door, or when they go to work and there are a couple of Indians on the assembly line beside them, they'll kind of understand and in that way information is power, because you get to change society (Cuthand interview, 2005).
Stereotypes not only impact the non-Aboriginal perception of Aboriginal people and issues, they can also impact victims. Those being stereotyped are seeing the same hurtful stereotypical pictures about themselves that others are seeing, which can in some cases lead to feelings of shame and to loss of self-esteem (Ponting, 1998: 281). In
6 It is interesting to note the origins of the word stereotype. The original was a printing plate that enabled the reproduction of the same material. A typesetter would avoid recasting the type by using a stereotype. It therefore came to imposed rigid mold on the subject and encourages repeated mechanical usage. 85 essence, negative depictions teach Aboriginal people and minorities in Canada that they are different in a negative way and are too often seen as threatening and deviant.
These portrayals in turn can damage the psyche because they can create feelings of inferiority and lack of self-esteem among minorities.
Even positive stereotyping can have negative results. The old notion of Indians as the noble savages, with a special connection to the environment, while a positive image, is also problematic in that it paints a false picture of an entire people. Few of us can forget the popular 1971 Madison Avenue advertisement featuring an actor, Iron Eyes
Cody. The picture is of an old, wise-looking, dignified First Nations man, with a single tear rolling down his cheek. At the top of the picture frame it says "Pollution: It's a
Crying Shame;" below the picture, it urges people to stop pollution. The suggestion here is that all Indians were, and still are, true ecologists, and that non-Aboriginal people are polluting the land. "Whether the stereotype is positive or negative in intent it stands in the way of successful communication because it blinds the analyst to major areas of difference" (Scollon and Scollon, 1996: 174). In the end, whether the stereotyping is positive or negative it stands in the way of open and informed communication.
One reason for this type of problem in the media is the fact that information about
Aboriginal people and other minorities in the mainstream media is filtered, almost entirely, through members of the social majority (Wilson and Gutierrez, 1985: 148). As discussed earlier in this paper, the social majority rarely includes Aboriginal people and
Aboriginal journalists, which leaves some scholars and social scientists suggesting that the Canadian media is not responding positively to this country's racial and Aboriginal diversity (Fleras, 1995: 426). Some reporters have difficultly accepting that they can be part of the problem when it comes to stereotypes. Jack Danylchuk, a reporter on the Aboriginal beat with the
Edmonton Journal, offered no apologies when it was suggested to him that media stories about unemployment, corruption, high suicide rates and drinking on reserves feed stereotypical views. "They're not stereotypes, they're facts" (Craats, 1998: 2).
Danylchuk went on to say that those who suggest otherwise are in denial and just make it difficult for reporters to do their jobs. This point of view should come as no surprise because journalists tend to be defensive about criticism of their work or their profession even when the criticism is valid (Lemert, 1989: 14). It is not a surprise to Hugh either:
"They do a very poor job of covering First Nations issues, but a lot of people, not everybody, but I think people in the mainstream think they are doing a good job of covering Aboriginal issues" (Hugh interview, 2003). For Hugh, the important issues are a lack of knowledge and lack of context:
Most of the reporters that I have worked with, can't name three ways the Indian Act affects the life of Indian people. They don't know the laws or rules on reserves. They don't know why First Nations were exempt from the PST for so long. They don't know and these are really basic things that people living in Saskatchewan should know.. .1 think that affects their coverage (Hugh interview, 2003).
Various surveys confirm a lack of public understanding of Aboriginal issues.
Most first year college and university students who took a 2002 basic quiz on First
Nations issues and people failed. Most were unable to name one fact about the federal
Indian Act that governs most aspects of the lives of First Nations people on reserves, and most admitted they did not know enough about Aboriginal people to equip them as responsible citizens (Coalition for the Advancement of Aboriginal Studies, 2002: 112). A general poll conducted by the Centre for Research and Information on Canada in 2003 shows that 42 percent of Canadians would like to get rid of treaties, leaving organizers of the poll with the view that Canadians know very little about issues facing people (CBC on-line, 2003). That same poll showed that Saskatchewan was particularly problematic with 62 percent of those polled demonstrating a lack of support of treaty rights and a desire to see treaties abolished.
Canadian minorities also receive problematic media coverage and are sometimes forced to live with the impact of negative stereotyping. One example is the mainstream media coverage in April 1997 of a Toronto murder after three black men entered a downtown Toronto restaurant and killed Georgina Leomonis, a 23-year-old woman.
People were fearful and angry and the feelings were fanned by the Toronto Star and the
Toronto Sun, which ran headlines such as 'the Barbarians are Inside the Gate" and suggested that city residents should tape the grainy security pictures of the men in their vehicles and be alert, so that if they spotted one of the potential suspects, they could immediately call the police (Miller, 1997: 135). The coverage helped to raise the already high temperature of black-white fear in the city, served to stereotype the tragedy as a black crime, and portrayed young black, in particular Jamaican, men, as problematic
(Miller, 1997: 134).
The mass media has the enormous potential to be a front-runner in the forging of amity, tolerance and understanding between Aboriginal people and other social groups in
Canada (Cottle, 2000: 2; Grenier, 1992: 273). Scholars Helen Molnar and Michael
Meadows argue that the practice of journalism offers powerful ways of interpreting the world and that this is especially true when dealing with race relations because the news 88 media is where many people get their information about the topic (Molnar and
Meadows, 2001: ix).
7.2 Whitecentrism
When asked for his definition of news, well-known journalist and broadcaster,
David Brinkley, said "News is what I say it is" (Campbell, 1995: 12), and there is a lot of truth to that. Canadian minorities constantly face a mainstream media that automatically and routinely interprets reality from a prism of whiteness accepted as normal, while dismissing dissenting viewpoints as inferior or irrelevant (Fleras and Kunz, 2001: xii:
Law, 2002: 158). This issue of whiteness is a common theme among researchers and is often referred to as whitecentrism:
If your family members are all white, your friends are white, most of your classmates are white, the people you date are white, the person you will marry is likely to be white, the leaders of your society are white, your teachers are white, and the person hiring you for your first job is white, two things happen simultaneously. First, you are not aware of your whiteness and the whiteness of those around you during most of your daily activities. And second, whiteness is the accepted and expected racial condition for you, and nonwhiteness and nonwhite people seem to be unusual (Zack, 1998: 61).
Whitecentrism occurs when white norms are placed at the centre of analysis and are unquestioned (Law, 2002: 25). "Along with the country as a whole, the press has too long basked in a white world looking out of it, if at all, with white men's eyes with a white perspective" (Campbell, 1995: 57). The white homogeneous yardstick is seen as the normal and is applied in many Canadian newsrooms. Richard Dyer (1997) who wrote about the representation of whites by whites in the west said that research into all kinds of communications including books and advertising shows that in the west whites are 89 overwhelmingly and disproportionately predominant and in addition they are presented
as the norm, or the ordinary (Dyer, 1997: 3).
A deeply entrenched system of white dominance helps to promote inequity and
oppression against people who are socially and economically disadvantaged (Henry,
Tator, Mattis and Rees, 2000: 2). "Largely white, middle-class personnel are unable to
comprehend the world from such diverse points of view, therefore minorities are distorted
or attenuated" (Fleras in Singer, 1995: 412). The notion of whitecentrism is difficult for
some to grasp. "We whites, whose norms are used to abnormalize, categorize and identify those others who are not us, cannot experience directly the oppressive
applications of those norms, for they are applied from our position, not upon it" (Fiske,
2000: 62). At the root of some whitecentrism is the notion that if minorities would just pull up their boot straps and apply themselves their lives would be much better
(Campbell, 1995: 31).
An example of whitecentrism is exemplified by an American story of the 1993
Mississippi newsroom coverage of a Martin Luther King Jr. parade and celebration which
took place on the same day as the birthday of civil war hero, Robert E. Lee. The
newsroom in questions was WDAM-TV based in Hattiesburg. The Lee celebration
received more definitive and salient coverage even though fewer people took part in it
than in the King parade. WDAM-TV did not even send a reporter to the King parade; it
sent only a camera operator (Campbell, 1995: 48), which means that the planned
coverage was to be minor, perhaps only a few pictures accompanied by a few words, as
opposed to a full news report. Campbell says it is likely the newsroom producers intended no offence; however at the very least, they were insensitive to the issue at hand (Campbell, 1995: 49).
Whitecentrism and its impacts are perpetuated by the under-representation of minority journalists which ensures that the news is largely produced by whites, in institutions that are primarily owned by whites. "Even though news is not entirely white, the infrequent presence of journalists of colour and minority news coverage dictates an otherness that is compounded when the coverage that exists perpetuates traditional racist notions about minority life (Campbell, 1995: 57). The result is a fundamental prevalence of white perspectives and dominance (Van Dijk, 1993: 249). Allan observed:
The intricate, often subtle ways in which white perspectives shape the framing of news reports concerning race-related issues can have a profound effect on public attitudes to racial discrimination (as well as on those of government policy makers), an effect which an otherwise conscientious white news reporter might never have intended (Allan, 1999: 165).
Some authorities on journalists and minority journalists, in particular, argue about racial and cultural isolation for some Aboriginal and minority journalists in the mainstream media newsrooms. Clint Wilson (2000) speaking about black journalists in the United States suggests that their survival on the job depends on how well they conform to newsroom policy and expectations and how they 'fit in' with fellow workers.
Some First Nations journalists in Canada share similar views. Bud White Eye says:
"unless you come out of a school of journalism assimilated and write like mainstream white journalists, they don't want you" (White Eye, 1996: 96). Michelle Hugh puts it this way: "The sense I get is it's okay to be First Nations, just don't act like it. Just don't make us realize that there are these issues that you have to deal with day to day" (Hugh interview, 2003). 91 7.3 Racism
Race is a politically charged term. It is a cultural construction which is embedded in hierarchical relations of power (Allan, 1999: 157). In social psychology terms it is held to be a negative attitude held by individuals with respect to particular groups
(Borodzicz and Kalin, 2000: 172). It involves both a negative evaluation (attitude) and negative behaviour (discrimination) toward individuals and groups defined in such racial terms (Berry and Kalin, 2000: 172).
Canadian society often sees itself as particularly tolerant and free of the racism that mars the social life of many other nations including the U. S. (Szuchewycz, 2000: 1).
Consequently, it is not surprising that as a country, Canada has been reluctant to acknowledge that racism may exist in any real way. It tends to view racism as something of the past or a misunderstanding of each other's culture, unless it includes some overt action such as hate literature. This belief is so strong that years of historical and sociological research demonstrating the contrary have done little to erode its pervasiveness (Szuchewycz, 2000: 1). This approach should not come as a surprise given that issues related to race and class and sexual orientation for that matter are usually denied by the dominant ideology of our society (Dyer, 1999: 377).
People tend to see racism primarily in overt acts such as racially motivated assaults or published material. However, despite the fact that expressions of racism today are different from the more extreme, crude forms of the past, racism continues in Canada today (Troper and Weinfeld, 1999: 6). In other words, racism today is still here, but less violent and less obvious. It is a polite racism exercised by employers, landlords, and policy makers who do not see the subtle exclusion of minorities as a problem. It is understandable that the coverage of Aboriginal stories in the mainstream mass media leaves Aboriginal people with their own questions. There was considerable
Saskatchewan media coverage in May and June of 2006 regarding the death of a Regina teen, Misha Pavelick, who was stabbed to death at a bush party near the city. Norma
Laliberte's Aboriginal son, Ryan James, had also been killed just earlier that year in
March. Norma was appalled when she heard of the murder of Misha, but she was also astonished at the amount of media coverage it received compared to the media coverage of the murder of her son: "There hasn't been anything whatsoever. Absolutely nothing, like he didn't matter to the city" (McLeod, June 3, 2006: Bl).
Systemic racism has been documented in a wide range of Canadian social institutions including the legal and criminal justice systems, yet ignorance of Canada's history of discrimination and civil rights abuses against visible and cultural minorities remains. Racist beliefs and practices, although widespread and persistent, are frequently invisible. It has been suggested that Canadians live in a state of collective denial of the racist laws and policies and practices that have shaped our major social, cultural, political and economic institutions for the past three hundred years (Henry, Tator, Mattis and Rees,
1999: 1). A survey of senior high school students by the Canadian Civil Liberties
Association released in 1995 showed that most students surveyed were unaware of past discriminatory practices such as denying entry to immigrants on the basis of race and the internment of Japanese Canadians during the second world war (Szuchewycz, 2000: np).
Teun A. Van Dijk (1988; 1991; 1993; 2000) has written extensively about the reproduction, communication and maintenance of racism in western democracies and the role of the media in that reproduction. He argues that racism is one of the most pervasive 93 problems in society (Van Dijk, 1991: viii) and attributes much of the responsibility for
the perpetuation, reproduction, and justification of everyday racism to what he calls elite
discourse, whose forms include media, political, corporate, academic and educational
discourses (Van Dijk, 1993: 242-243). It is through such discourse that the particular
ideologies and social cognitions underlying everyday racism are reproduced and
reinforced. In fact, Van Dijk considers the media of particular importance because it
constitutes the most influential of several elite discourses which shape and change social
perceptions. It is his view that the production of news is largely accomplished by
members of dominant groups and it reflects their interests.
The media has the power to produce and transmit messages that Aboriginal people
and minorities create social problems and jeopardize the harmony and unity of Canadian
society. In this sense, the media has become a major transmitter of society's cultural
standards, myths, values, roles and images. "While espousing democratic values of
fairness, equality and freedom of expression, the media reinforces and reproduces racism
in a number of ways: negative stereotyping, the racialization of issues such as crime and
immigration" (Henry, Tator, Mattis and Rees, 2000: 14). Eurocentric and ethnocentric judgments and marginalization of people of colour are found in all aspects of media
production.
7.4 Crime
Crime, particularly violent crime, is a staple of the news media and has been for
years (Altheide, 1996: 50; Lipschultz and Hilt, 2002: 5; Oliver, 2003: 422). The mass
media's seeming preoccupation with crime is nothing new; there is a long tradition of
news accounts of crime, and crime control in the media (Ericson, Baranek, Chan, 1987: 2; 94 Henry and Tator, 2002: 163). Crime is in fact one of the oldest news categories. As far back as 1833, the New York Sun had a reporter assigned to the police beat, in order to offer daily crime stories (Erickson, Baranek, Chan, 1987: 2). This appetite is said to stem
from the fact that deviance is an important reference point from which people construct a
sense of order (Ericson, Baranek, and Chan, 1987: 59).
The appetite for crime stories comes despite the fact that most people have no direct exposure to crime and instead form impressions in relation to crime and justice primarily from the mass media (Chermak, 1995: 3). Yet, people generally see themselves
as potential victims (Chermak, 1995: 6), and because of the emphasis on crime and violence in news and entertainment they tend to overestimate the extent to which crime
exists (Van Dijk, 1988: 129). Crimes against property outnumber violent crimes ten to one but they get relatively little attention and murders are the rarest of all crimes but they
get the most coverage (Lotz 1991: 9). Some media operations rely more on crime news than others, but all news outlets would appear to depend on crime news for much of their
coverage (Altheide, 1996: 5). This coverage has generally led people to believe that
crime is on the increase, when in fact it is on the decrease, which makes the fear of crime
out of step with reality (Ericson, Baranek and Chan, 1987: 44; Oliver, 2003: 421; Soroka,
2002: 25). Further research shows that people are particularly concerned about minorities
and crime (Oliver, 2003: 421). The media is often accused of over-representing minority
involvement in crime and under-representing whites (Oliver, 2003: 423).
Relying on crime stories for news is also easy and cheap, and news outlets are
structured so they can get to crime stories easily and quickly through the use of tools such
as regular police checks, a court beat and police scanners (Chermak, 1995: 21). Crime 95 stories for the most part occupy prominent parts of newspapers and headlines (Lotz,
1991: 9). The media is accused of portraying crime in a narrow and distorted fashion because for the most part the stories primarily report the crime without finding the reasons behind it.
Crime and race are often linked gratuitously in the media. Visible minorities are more likely to be associated with criminal activities in the news compared to whites
(Casas, and Dixon, 2003: 480). When a white person is engaged in criminal behavior it is usually treated as an aberrant individual act, but when a minority person is engaged in
criminal behaviour it is too often seen as normal, for which the entire minority
community is blamed and held responsible. The Just Desserts murder, mentioned earlier, is an example. Public reaction in news reports included cries to deport the criminals, lower immigration rates and give 'people' back the city.
One of the suggested reasons for the attention to violent crime is that crime stories help to sell papers and bring viewers to broadcasts, which in turn helps to make profits for
owners (Lotz, 1991: 12). Others suggest that reporting on crime benefits society as a
whole in that news of arrests and police crackdowns serve as a warning to criminals of
their potential fate. However, research shows that crime stories have little impact on
criminals, while they may have substantial impact on potential victims (Lotz, 1991: 4-5).
Others suggest that the attention to crime is connected to the news gathering process itself
(Altheide, 1996: 8; Henry and Tator, 2002: 163; Martindale, 1996: 32). Many of the
values that are used to define news are those which fit the description of violent crime,
such as originality, distinctiveness, proximity, impact, as well as odd and likely to be
talked about (Hough, 1984: 2). In other words, a dog biting a man is generally not news 96 but a man biting a dog is, or putting it another way safe landings at the airport are not news but a plane crash is.
Another influence on the amount of crime coverage could be attributed to the heavy reliance by the media on official sources (Martindale, 1996: 32). In the case of minority coverage, research, including the research of this project, indicates that the official source is generally seen to be someone other than minorities themselves.
Whatever the reason or intent, it is generally accepted that several aspects of crime reporting combine to suggest that minorities, or in this case First Nations people, are more
dangerous than whites (Entman, 1997: 284). It is interesting to note that while the mass media in general appears to be strongly against violence, it strongly portrays crime stories
in its overall coverage (Lee and Solomon, 1990: 238).
7.5 Case Studies
A major event in recent First Nations history is the 1990 crisis at Oka. During that
1990 summer, the eyes of the nation were trained on the small Quebec town of Oka in a
showdown between First Nations people, particularly the Mohawk of Kahnawake, just
outside of Montreal, and Quebec police and the Canadian army. The confrontation came
following a dispute involving a planned condominium expansion and golf complex by the
Town of Oka, on land claimed by the neighbouring Mohawk community of Kahnesatake
based on unresolved pre-confederation claims. Mohawk protestors set up barricades
which brought out the Quebec police; this was followed by the Mohawks from
Kahnawake south of Montreal blocking the Mercier Bridge. The Mercier Bridge is a
major thoroughfare used daily by 70,000 commuters and the blockade created a major 97 public transportation disruption. The crisis, resulted in three deaths and drew world wide attention and catapulted Canadian Aboriginal land rights into the spotlight.
The land claim issue at the root of the Oka crisis went far beyond the twentieth century, into historical issues of Aboriginal treaties, but that story was virtually lost in the media coverage which spent much more time on the conflict itself. Media images that
came out of Oka involved rock-throwing people from the town pelting a convoy of
children, elderly and sick residents leaving Kahnawake, scuffling First Nations people,
staring-down soldiers and crying children (Valaskakis, 1997: 111). One of the most remembered images is that of the "warrior", bandanna masked, khaki-clad, gun-toting
First Nations men who dominated the news (Valaskakis, 1997: 111). There is no denying that violence was involved in the Oka stand-off; however, the approach taken by the mainstream media told little about the emergence, persistence, and meaning of warriors in
Indian cultural and social formation. And very few people were made aware of Mohawk
concepts of sovereignty and individual law (York and Pindera, 1991: 231). As Fleras and
Kunz observed: "The decision to frame the discourse about Oka as an armed
confrontation involving criminal elements, rather than as a plea for justice involving
aboriginal and treaty rights, established a powerful ideological framework that did little to
advance the Aboriginal cause" (Fleras and Kunz, 2001: 81).
The coverage of Oka reduced it to an issue of law and order rather than an issue
related to land and Aboriginal rights (Fleras and Kunz: 81). This focus may not only
have prolonged the dispute, but also distracted the public's attention from the more
substantial issues pertaining to Aboriginal rights. Testifying at the Royal Commission on
Aboriginal Affairs in 1993, Linda Powless, one of the most experienced Aboriginal reporters in Canada, expressed frustration with the mainstream media coverage of Oka.
She testified that non-Aboriginal reporters demonstrated a basic lack of knowledge and a dismal understanding of the issues behind the crisis: "Non-Native reporters showed us through their spotty and dismal understanding of the issues that led to and provoked Oka and subsequent coverage that they are as not as well-versed in Native issues as they pretend to be" (as quoted in Valaskakis, 1998: 4). While most non-Aboriginal reporters may have demonstrated a lack of understanding, some, in particular Loreen Pindera and
Geoffrey York, who stayed behind the barricades in Kahnesatake to produce stories with
appropriate research and develop local contacts, were accused of bias (Roth, 1996: 81).
This is yet another example of the complexities surrounding the coverage of Aboriginal
issues in the mainstream media.
Another Canadian First Nations crisis took place in 1995 about five years after
Oka, at Gustafson Lake in British Columbia. In this instance, the RCMP was used to
disperse a group of twenty-one Sun Dancers who occupied a campground which they
claimed had never been ceded. Once again the media was accused of ignoring the history
of the land and the Shuswap Nation, and instead, called the occupiers names such as
terrorists and criminals, and suggested that their actions would hurt the cause of all First
Nations (Christensen, 1995: np). The negotiation of the Nisga'a land claim in British
Columbia also came under media fire. Many of the stories in the mainstream media of
the day suggested that British Columbia was under siege because of the potential
agreement. Headlines such as "Indians Claim 110 Per Cent of the Province" and "Public
Silenced by Land Claims" appeared. A Reform Party Member of Parliament, Mike Scott, 99 suggested in the media that if people thought Oka was a problem they should wait until the BC case broke open (Glavin, 1995: np).
Then there is the saga of Burnt Church, New Brunswick, which became famous in
September of 1999, when the Supreme Court of Canada upheld the native fishing rights of a Mi'kmaq, Donald Marshal, who had been charged with fishing eels out of season, fishing without a license, and fishing with an illegal net. Marshall was convicted in lower courts, but took his case to the Supreme Court which agreed that the treaties of the 1860s gave him the right to catch fish for sale and excused him from current fishing regulations.
Burnt Church became a hotspot of tension between Aboriginal and non-
Aboriginal fishermen. Aboriginal traps were destroyed, shouting matches ensued, and there was vandalizing of fishing equipment and three fish plants. The coverage met with similar concerns as the Oka coverage. The media was accused of being status quo supporters of the position of the federal government. "This was a side represented by the
Canadian state, supported by a large pack of ready and willing status quo journalists
(Fitzgerald, 2002: np). Fitzgerald described the reporters as eagerly using the Eurocentric and ethnocentric information provided by the government without any understanding of the core issues and perceptions governing the story. There was other criticism as well.
On August 17,2000, the United Church of Canada passed a resolution in which it condemned the media's use of terms such as 'defy' and 'illegal' to misrepresent the First
Nations role and the resolution urged the media to work harder at bringing correct, unbiased information to the Canadian Public.
This sentiment echoes similar complaints from First Nations journalists in the
United States. "They say journalists fail to understand First Nations cultures, history and treaty rights and misrepresented them when doing stories around fishing rights"
(Weston 1996: 157). One example is the 1994 story about two Tlingit youth from Alaska who were accused of robbing and beating a pizza delivery man. The youth were released to a Tlingit judge who banished them to a remote Alaska Island. Stories across the
country questioned the authenticity of the Tribal judge and system. An Associated Press
story said: "There were no lawyers, no oaths, no objectives. The twelve judges drank the juice of a thorny plant, wore deerskin tunics and had the courtroom cleansed of evil
spirits. This was justice, Tlingit style" (Weston, 1996: 160). The story was certainly news worthy; however, without cultural details and context, the Tlingit were portrayed as
strange and primitive, and the impression was left that justice was not served.
While Aboriginal journalists are well aware of the problems the mainstream media has in covering Aboriginal people, there is some concern by non-Aboriginal journalists. In fact the president of the Canadian Association of Journalists, Charles Bird
(1996), expressed grave reservations about the mainstream media and its treatment of
Aboriginal issues:
The country's large newspapers, TV and radio news shows often contain misinformation, sweeping generalizations and galling stereotypes about natives and native affairs. Their stories are usually presented by journalists with little background knowledge or understanding of aboriginals and their communities. The large media outlets include shamefully few aboriginals either on their staff or among their freelance journalists. As well, very few so-called mainstream media consider aboriginal affairs to be a subject worthy of regular attention. The result is that most Canadians have little real knowledge of the country's native peoples or the issues that affect them (Bird as quoted in Switzer, 1996: 167).
It would appear that Bird's concerns have not been taken up by his fellow journalists and
addressed because here we are, more than ten years later, and many of the same concerns
are being raised. 101 Inaccurate depictions of Indians are not new. The depictions of native people as noble savages, or evil and sub-human are seen in literature since the time of Columbus.
The attitudes that led to these types of portrayals have helped to create the stereotyping, distortion, and omission of news of significance to the people themselves that we see today. 102 CHAPTER EIGHT
CONTENT ANALYSIS
While it is true that reporters and the media are sometimes unfairly criticized, this does not mean that the media should go without criticism. In fact, Orlik suggests that criticism can be helpful. He says that solid, valid criticism requires positive as well as negative input and that this input can then be used to identify problems and suggest how those problems can be addressed (Orlik, 1994: 19). The most severe criticism about the media comes from polarized points of view (Lemert, 1989: 23), often from those holding partisan views of the political left or right and is focused on which side appears to be getting favoured treatment.
Content analysis is a valuable tool to examine the media (Rife, Lacy and Fico,
1998: 7) and is one of the most utilized research methods in the field of media and communications (Berger, 2000: 173). It is a way to examine media messages in a systematic way, based on the facts as presented. Instead of interviewing people, or asking them to respond to questions in a survey, or observing human behaviour, content analysis is used to examine communications produced at specific times and places. In the end, content analysis provides data that can be collected and expressed in numbers which provide detailed information that can be used to gain valuable insights (Berger, 2000,
182). It is, in other words, an important element of inferring certain things about the media (Shoemaker and Rees, 1991: 23).
The content analysis that follows is aimed at discovering how certain news was organized and what picture of a particular world is presented to the reader. Two different sets of information are analyzed. The first is a special feature section of the Regina 103 Leader-Post and the Saskatoon StarPhoenix on residential schools and the second is
the coverage of Aboriginal peoples and issues in the Regina Leader-Post for the nine-
week period leading up to the special feature section.
8.1 Residential Schools Feature
On August 9, 2003 the Regina Leader-Post and the Saskatoon StarPhoenix
published the same special feature section with reports on residential schools. It was
called "Moving Beyond" and was described as 'A 12-Page Report on Saskatchewan First
Nations, Residential Schools and Where We Go From Here.' The section was a
thoughtful, insightful, informative approach to a topic of great importance to First Nations
people in particular, and all Canadians in general. The section focused on the former
residential school on the Gordon First Nation and included discussion of a recovery and
wellness centre now on the Reserve, a former administrator who was found guilty of
sexual assault, and the impact of the school on former residents and their families.
The Leader-Post special feature section contained several major stories about
residential schools. They included a description of the valuable work done by the
recovery and wellness centre and concerns about its future in light of the fact that its
funding was limited and scheduled to run out in November, 2003 (Wilson, August 9,
2003: C2). Another story outlined the very real impacts that the residential school had on
some of those who attended, especially those who were physically or sexually abused. It
described how the abuse often led to other problems for those survivors, including the
abuse of alcohol and criminal activities, and outlined how those problems continued to
have an impact upon their lives today (Warrick, August 9, 2003a: C5). A statement of
reconciliation made by the Honourable Jane Stewart, the Minister of Indian Affairs and 104 Northern Development, on January 7, 1998, was included in the feature section. In it, the federal government acknowledged its own role in the development and administration of residential schools.
It is interesting to note that included in the valuable information in the special feature section was the suggestion that not all residential school experiences were negative (Warrick, August 9, 2003: C6). While some may see this as an attempt to downplay the impact of residential schools, this researcher has heard this sentiment before. In one instance, a First Nations professor at the First Nations University of
Canada told a class that he had attended residential school and benefited from the experience. He did not play down the very real negative impacts of the system that many experienced, but suggested that not all the experiences were bad. In yet another story in the special section, residential school survivors who had already received federal monetary compensation for their experiences discussed the impact of the compensation on their lives (Warrick, Aug 9,2003: C5).
The special feature section was published following a conference on residential schools that was held on the Gordon First Nation near Regina. "Moving Beyond " was an excellent example of what good journalism can attempt to do by portraying Aboriginal issues in a fashion that includes context, history and ample Aboriginal sources. It demonstrated journalistic integrity and was an example of how a medium can fill a much- needed vacuum. The 12-page feature section made up an entire section of the paper and was supported by advertising from institutions such as the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming
Authority, Action Energy, and the SaskNative Economic Development Corporation. 105 Shortly before the August 9,2003 residential school feature, a few stories on residential schools appeared in the Leader-Post in what could be viewed as advance promotion of the feature. On the front page of the second section of the August 5, 2003 edition, a story ran about a ceremony on the Gordon First Nation to honour seven men who were the first to sue the federal government over the sexual abuse they suffered at the Gordon Indian Residential School (Warrick, August 4, 2003: Bl). In the same issue as the residential school feature, the paper featured a commentary from Chief Glen Pratt of the Gordon First Nation on its editorial page, outlining how residential schools were introduced to assimilate First Nations children and to change their culture and religion to match that of white Europeans. Chief Pratt wrote that the devastating impact of those schools still exists today, passed down through generations of people who were not allowed to develop parenting skills, lost their language and traditions, and returned to their homes as virtual strangers (Pratt, August 9, 2003).
These kinds of special in-depth features on complex and important issues are not entirely unusual in the Regina Leader-Post and the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix and some other newspapers for that matter. Another feature section several years ago tackled the issue of drinking water. These feature sections are planned well in advance and reporters have an extended period of time in which to find the sources that are required to research and write stories. Bruce Garrison (1999), an expert on the art of feature writing, describes this kind of approach as providing a creative, subjective and less structured style and approach than is found in most hard news stories (Garrison, 1999: 5). Features in general, and special features sections such as "Moving Beyond" in particular, allow a media outlet to produce stories it cannot or does not do on a daily basis in general news coverage. 106 8.2 The Regina Leader-Post - A Content Analysis
The second aspect of the content analysis of this thesis involves an examination of the Regina Leader-Post from June 1 to August 9, 2003. The examination included quantifying the number of pages in each issue; identifying Aboriginal-related articles; establishing the location and author of the article; determining the nature of the article, whether it be news, letter, picture, editorial or other; establishing the category of the item
(for example whether the topic was related to education, culture, politics, or crime/justice) establishing whether the sources used were Aboriginal or not; and establishing the general tone of the story, whether it was positive, negative or neutral (see Appendix C on page
153).
Approximately 60 issues of the Leader-Post were examined during the period in question. Each issue ranged from about 30 to 90 pages. The shorter issues were usually produced early in the week on Monday and Tuesday, while the longer issues were generally produced later in the week on Friday and Saturday. One of the most common consistencies in the layout of the paper was the sports section, which usually encompassed about eight pages and made up a considerable portion of a section. When compared to an entire paper of 32 pages, it is easy to see that sports generally fills a substantial portion of the daily Leader-Post and is obviously seen to be of some significance. When you compare this to the coverage of other important issues including
Aboriginal people, it would be easy to conclude that comparatively speaking, virtually any other single issue gets less daily coverage than sports.
While it is relatively easy to identify when a story is about Aboriginal people and issues, it is not always as easy to identify whether a source used in a story is Aboriginal or 107 not. This can be considered good news, in the sense that there was a time in the not
so distant past when minority sources were rarely used, and when they were used they were identified as being a member of the particularly minority. In this project, stories were identified as Aboriginal, only when it was absolutely clear that the story was related to an Aboriginal issue. No guesses were made about ethnicity based on surnames, nor was this researcher's knowledge about the source used to categorize the story. If it was determined that it would not be clear to anyone reading the article that the item was related to Aboriginal people or issues, the story was not included in this research.
Using these standards, approximately 120 news items, related to Aboriginal issues were identified, the vast majority of which were Saskatchewan-based, along with six
editorials and general columns, a handful of letters and several columns produced by First
Nations author, Doug Cuthand. More than 60 pictures were published during the research period, many related to a single story, which was the disappearance of a young Aboriginal
child, Tamra Keepness. The largest number of news stories, more than 40, was also
related to the disappearance of Tamra. This story was placed in the category of
crime/justice. The second highest number of stories, about 22, was also in the
crime/justice category and related to such issues as criminal charges, court appearances,
convictions and criminal gangs. Using the coding chosen for this analysis, it became
clear that most of the stories examined during the research period were crime/justice
related, which mirrors the concerns by scholars and the journalists interviewed, that
Aboriginal people and minorities are over represented in stories about crime and
problems. The next highest number of news stories, about a dozen, was related to culture,
including such events as powwows, six were connected to the Metis election in 108 Saskatchewan and the provincial government's decision to cut funding to the Metis
Nation-Saskatchewan because of concerns over perceived irregularities in the previous
Metis election and another six were related to education (see Table 1 on page 109). The remaining stories covered a broad spectrum of areas such as residential schools, poverty
and First Nations voters in the impending federal election.
Most of the Aboriginal-related stories examined during the analysis period were written by provincially-based journalists. In terms of the Aboriginal stories based outside
Saskatchewan, five involved the story of Luna, a killer whale off the waters of Vancouver
Island's west coast. The Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans was concerned
that the whale was a risk to itself and others because it was playing with boats and float planes in Nootka Sound and departmental staff were attempting to move the whale out of
the immediate area. The Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation believed that the whale was
the reincarnation of their dead chief and Band members were using various means to
thwart the federal attempts (Lavoie, June 16,2003: A7).
An analysis of the stories examined was done to determine if they were positive,
negative or neutral. Positive was used to identify a story that placed Aboriginal people
and issues in a positive light, negative was used for stories that portrayed them in a
negative fashion and neutral was used to describe stories that were neither positive nor
negative in terms of their representation of Aboriginal issues but could be considered
purely informational. The examination showed that most of the stories, more than 70 of
the 120 news stories identified were neutral, about 25 positive and just over 20 were
negative (see Table 2 on page 114). An example of a neutral story is the collection Table 1 - Focus of Stories (original in colour)
Table 2 - Tone of Stories (original in colour) 110 of stories related to Luna, the killer whale mentioned previously, and the Peter
Ballantye Cree Nation discussing whether to take action on a referendum to repeal the
'dry' status of the community of Pelican Narrows (Goerzen, June 19,2003: B3). It should be noted that all the stories related to Tamra Keepness were categorized in the neutral area, although some could argue that some of those should have been placed in the negative category for obvious reasons, and yet others could suggest some be placed in the positive category because of the coming together of the community to conduct the search and the support shown to the family. This researcher decided for the purposes of this project it would be more valuable to categorize all of the stories in the single neutral category because while some of the stories could be categorized as positive and some as negative, several had both positive and negative elements at the same time.
In terms of the sources used in individual stories, it was determined that approximately 15 had Aboriginal sources only, 30 had non-Aboriginal sources only, 45 had both an Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal source and 30 had no identified sources .
This means that only about 12 percent of the items had Aboriginal sources only. It should be noted that some of the stories made it clear that there were unsuccessful attempts to reach an Aboriginal source. That lack of success could be a result of an Aboriginal source refusing to be interviewed or the potential source being unable to comply with the interview request within the reporters' time frame. In terms of the former, some researchers suggest that some First Nations people are leery about the media because of perceived past transgressions; in terms of the latter, others suggest that demands for immediate interviews can be problematic for certain cultural practices. Some Aboriginal cultures may have a process that people have to go through before they can publicly Ill speak to the media, which precludes an immediate response to a reporter. That lack of an immediate response often means the Aboriginal voices are not heard as the newsgathering process usually dictates that the reporter produce the story in question and then move on to another story the next day.
Another troubling aspect of the examination of the sources is the fact that most of the stories related to Aboriginal people and issues also had at least one non-Aboriginal source. In addition, most of the non-Aboriginal sources utilized often represented an elite institution; they were politicians, teachers, lawyers and by far the most frequently used non-Aboriginal source during the period of review were representatives of the city police.
This appears to confirm research that suggests that Aboriginal sources are believed to be capable of speaking to Aboriginal issues only and are not utilized to speak to other
'every-day-life' issues of which they are also a part. The reliance on official sources in news is not peculiar to the Leader Post or other Canadian newspapers. Studies in the
United States have also shown a heavy dependence on sources such as government officials (Whitney and Ettema, 2002: 164). When it comes to Aboriginal stories, public officials are used, not only because they are considered knowledgeable, but also because reporters accept their administrative procedures and the way they do things as the normal way that things work (Whitney and Ettema, 2003: 164). Public officials are also usually easier to find because they tend to work in offices making them easy to reach and they usually have a fairly well-established policy for timely response to the media. While balance in most cases means reporters interviewing people with different points of view on the same story, it would appear in the case of First Nations people that the balance is too often provided by a non-Aboriginal institutional representative. 112 In terms of the general crime/justice stories, in addition to the Tamra Keepness story, there was a mix of general court cases, including a dangerous offender hearing for a man convicted of multiple sexual assaults, a report on First Nations and Metis justice in
Saskatchewan and three stories related to gangs. One front-page story reported that a
2002 Canadian Police survey on youth gangs showed that Saskatchewan had the most youth gang members in the country (Brownlee, June 4,2003). The report went on to point out that 96 percent, virtually all gang members in the province, are Aboriginal. A
Regina city police sergeant was quoted as saying that Regina has the highest crime rate per capita because of these gangs, and that youth dealing with poverty, weak families, little education and low self-esteem are more prone to joining gangs (Brownlee, June 4,
2003: Al). The next day, another story on gangs appeared, this time on the front of the second section of the newspaper with a headline suggesting that gangs were losing their appeal (Brownlee, June 5, 2003: Bl).
A few days later, yet another story appeared, this time an editorial, talking about the growing gang problem in Saskatchewan and pointing out that almost half of the gang members in Canada are believed to have links to Aboriginal and Asian gangs (Our View:
June 7,2003: B7). It went on to point out that the problem was increasing and could reach epidemic proportions. It intimated that Saskatchewan, with the highest concentration of youth gang members, was on the front line of the problem. The editorial did not just outline a perceived problem; it also outlined a potential solution. The solution involved governments, community groups, schools and families taking a role in recognizing warning signs and developing ways to help young people with self-esteem issues and working to give the youth the necessary support mechanisms to keep them 113 from looking to gangs to fill in any gaps in their lives (Our View: June 7, 2003: B7).
The other major contributor to the crime/justice category was the Tamra Keepness
case and it is necessary to spend considerable effort to describe that coverage in some
detail because it was the predominant Aboriginal story of the research period.7 Five-year-
old Tamra went missing in the early morning of June 6, 2003 (for the purposes of this paper, first names will be used for various members of the Keepness family to avoid any potential confusion). After Tamra went missing, a story appeared on the front page of the
July 8,' 2003 Leader-Post with the headline Regina Mystery: Search Intensifies for
Missing Girl. It outlined that Tamra lived with her mother and five siblings including her
twin sister, and that Tamra was last seen when she went to bed at her home around 11:00 p.m. on Monday night. The next morning when she was discovered to be missing, her
family first conducted their own search and then contacted the police just after noon
(Woods, July 8, 2004: Al and A2).
The police began an immediate search and a dozen volunteers from as far as the
Qu'Appelle valley and the Carry The Kettle First Nation helped in the search. The
newspaper story included, as could be expected under the circumstances, a picture of
Tamra as well as a description. One thing that struck this author on first reading the story
was that the name of the young girl was identified in the first article as Tamara, rather
than Tamra. While not a huge issue, it nonetheless stood out as an unfortunate turn in the
story, which preceded many other unfortunate turns.
7 It should be noted that the time frame of the content analysis was chosen on an arbitrary basis, and not because of the Tamra Keepness case. It is only when the research began that the author realized the period covered the beginning of the search for Tamra. 114
For the most part, the stories regarding Tamra had both Aboriginal and non-
Aboriginal sources. The Aboriginal sources were often Tamara's mother, Lorena, her stepfather, Dean McArthur, and her biological father, Troy Keepness. Other family members, including an aunt, Rachel McArthur, were also identified, and as the search continued, the Aboriginal source was often a member or leader of the Aboriginal search party or a representative of the Federation of the Saskatchewan Indian Nations. The non-
Aboriginal sources were usually the city police or RCMP officers and to a lesser extent non-Aboriginal searchers and sympathizers. Most of the stories related to Tamra began on the first page and continued on to the second. In several cases there were multiple related stories and pictures in a single newspaper.
Early in Tamra's disappearance, the stories were usually written in a straightforward manner with a description of the disappearance and sympathy expressed towards all the family members. The city police were usually quoted saying there was no evidence indicating what might have happened to the missing girl and they had no idea where she was (Switzer and Pruden, July 9, 2004: Al and A2). The police originally treated the case as a missing persons incident after they found no evidence of a forced entry, no indication of a struggle inside the home, and no suggestion of any other kind of criminal aspect to the case (Switzer and Pruden, July 9: 2004). Tamra's aunt, Rachel
McArthur, said Tamra's mother had been unable to sleep and her siblings were all upset.
Almost a week after Tamra first went missing, Regina police intensified the search by barricading roads near Regina's airport and searching an area around Wascana
Creek. The search lasted a few hours only, but raised speculation that a break had been made in the search. Police said only that the search area was a crime scene, but reported 115 that they did not know if it was connected to Tamra or anything else at that point
(Switzer and Kyle, July 10, 2003: Al and A2). There was a general outpouring of
support and concern for Tamra and her family but some of that was about to change.
Tamra's mother Lorena began to express concern about the police handling of the
search, claiming that the police were not spending enough time searching for the young
girl, and instead were questioning members of the family including Tamra's 10-year-old
sister who had been taken to the police station and questioned without an adult family
member present (Rhodes: July 11,2003: Al and A2). The inference from the family was
that they were now being unfairly treated as suspects. The police responded by saying
that sometimes they had to interview people more than once to get to the story. The police also suggested that criminal interference with Tamra was now a distinct possibility
(Rhodes, July 14, 2003: Al and A2).
On the same day that the police hinted at criminal involvement, an item appeared
on the front page of the paper describing how Tamra's disappearance was every parent's
nightmare (Hughes; July 14, 2003: Aland A2). The column described a burned out
garage in the back alley of the Keepness home and a dumpster with garbage spilling over
onto the street. It outlined that just down the road from Tamra's house was an area where
prostitutes strolled the streets looking for customers, and that the journalist had
encountered a man who was unsteady on his feet, with his face and shoulders covered in
sweat and with glassy eyes (Hughes, July 14: A2). The reader was left with the
impression that the man was drunk, on drugs, or otherwise intoxicated. The journalist
also ran into a woman in a black dress with a blackened eye and her teeth 'clenching' a
cigarette. "Life in this area can be weary. The area is hardened by some of the 116 unpleasant realities of life in our city. But it does not mean that they are not loving, caring families amidst all of this" (Hughes, July 14: A2).
The column clearly expressed sympathy, but it was evident that Tamra's story was starting to take something of a different turn. The suggestion by the police that a criminal element was involved, the interjection of information that had no known connection to
Tamra's disappearance but pointed to a potentially troubled neighbourhood and concern by Lorena Keepness about the police handling of the case all served to help change the tone of the story. It appeared that the introduction of poverty, prostitution, and alcohol, possible strange activities in the house the night of the disappearance, the stopping and starting of elements of the search, alleged police behaviour, and other twists to the case were now sometimes turning the story into the stereotypical picture that sometimes appear in the media in its depiction of First Nations people.
Also on the front page of the July 14 Leader-Post was a story with Tamra's stepfather, Dean McArthur, describing how he believed the police were on the wrong track and how angry he was with them for questioning of one of the children (Bream, July
14: A2). The Tamra Keepness story continued to go through various permutations including Elders helping in the search and the police suspending the search but family members and First Nations continuing their efforts. The police referred to comings and goings at the house the night of Tamra's disappearance and laid charges against Tamra's stepfather, Dean McArthur, for an assault they say took place the same night Tamra disappeared. McArthur later appeared in court on assault charges, in the glare of the light of extreme media attention, while the search for his stepdaughter was still intense. 117 On July 15, 2003, a column appeared denying any suggestions of racism in the search for Tamra (Hughes, July 15,2003: A2). It stated that it was now obvious that the young girl had not simply wandered away, or she would have been found by this time.
The column pointed out that many devoted police officers were searching for Tamra, and there were now suggestions that there had been a party in Tamra's house the night that she disappeared, with people coming and going from the premises over a long period of time (Hughes, July 15,2003: A2). The inference was that the disappearance could be related to the party and guests in the house that evening. The column expressed anger with some people outside the family circles who were now playing what was described as
'the racism card.' The journalist described how an Aboriginal man had phoned to say that if Tamra were a missing white child, from a wealthy white neighbourhood, that the police the search would not have been called off when it was. The column expressed the view that the whole community had come together to look for Tamra and that Regina
Police chief Cal Johnston was extremely concerned and upset about the case (Hughes,
July 15, 2003: A2).
On July 19, 2003, there were two main stories on the front page under the banner headline Missing Regina Girl: Where is Tamra? In one story, the disappearance was described as baffling. Details were provided about how about 40 searchers had gone through dumpsters, dilapidated buildings, abandoned large appliances and even sewer catch basins in the area of Tamra's home. It said fears were growing that Tamra was facing something much more menacing than misadventure. "It's a neighbourhood where it's easy to have those suspicions. Just a block from Tamra's street - and walking distance from the local park - is a halfway house that pedophiles and other criminals call 118 home. On those same streets where legitimate businesses ply their wares, working girls solicit passers-by, drug addicts cut deals and alcoholics stumble into a bar with a street-tough reputation" (Pacholik, July 19,2003: A2).
The second story described the search as now being conducted primarily by First
Nations people working in the blazing sun (Hall, July 19,2003: Al and A2). A few days later the story took another turn when Saskatchewan Government Social Services workers with a police escort entered the Keepness home and took away the remaining Keepness children. The story was accompanied by a large picture of the children being taken from the house (Rhodes, July 22,2003: Al and A2). A few days later in the paper the vice- chief of the FSIN, Guy Lonechild, suggested that the children had actually been taken away before and returned just weeks before Tamra disappeared. Vice-chief Lonechild questioned the provincial government's handling of follow-up with families in cases when children are taken away and then returned (Rhodes, August 5,2003: Al and A2.).
The next day, another story appeared on the front page with Tamra's stepfather saying the FSIN was incorrect and the children had not been taken away (Rhodes and
Kyle, August 6,2003: Al and A2). In one of the last stories before the end of the research period, Tamra's parents spoke to the media again and explained that they were devastated by Tamra's disappearance and concerned about the suspicions that had come to be aimed at the family (Cook, August 7,2003: Al and A2). Tamra's stepfather said he was questioned for 20 hours about the case while in police custody, and Tamra's mother suggested someone outside the family came into the house and took Tamra, or Tamra somehow got out of the house the next morning. Once again, the boarded up houses and vacant lots with streets frequented by prostitutes and drug dealers were raised in the 119 media item (Cook, August 7, 2003, Al and A2). There were many other twists and turns to this story, but these descriptions are sufficient to provide an overview of the tone of items that appeared. At the time of the completion of this thesis in February 2008,
Tamra was still missing.
The Leader-Post is to be commended on its use of Aboriginal sources in its stories, although there is certainly room for more, as well as room for fewer institutional white sources. It should be noted that in some of the items examined in the period under review, the reporter mentioned in the story that an Aboriginal source was sought, but could not be reached. This is likely tied to the 'timely' nature of the news gathering process which usually dictates that if one source cannot be found on the particular day in question, the story is still produced. The result can be that Aboriginal voices, which may take longer to identify and reach for reasons already identified in this paper, are not heard in a timely fashion, if at all.
A story in the review period may exemplify this concern. On June 28 and June
29, 2003, Action Energy ran full-page advertisements in the Leader-Post, which were open letters to members of the Carry The Kettle First Nation. The advertisements described how the First Nations members had an important opportunity to participate in the development of a valuable natural gas project on their Treaty Land Entitlement
selection and urged them to choose Action Energy over rival company, Archean Energy, to carry out the development. On the day after the second advertisement, a news story
appeared in the business section of the newspaper providing important detail behind the project. It outlined the competition between the two companies and included quotes from representatives of both organizations. The conclusion of the story contained a comment 120 that the Carry The Kettle Band Chief, Barry Kennedy, was unavailable for comment
(Johnston, June 30, 2004: B8). It is clear that the view of the Chief was important to providing some context to the story. It would appear that the window of opportunity in this particular newsgathering process was lost, even though it was missing a crucial
element. This can, as mentioned earlier in this paper, represent a major hurdle for people
of different cultures who have different ways of doing things, and because of these
different traditions, do not or cannot respond immediately to media requests to meet the
deadlines that journalists must live with on a daily basis. Unfortunately, this is the reality
for many daily news reporters who face constant deadlines and the potential wrath of
senior editors or producers if they cannot make their deadlines and complete their
assigned stories.
There was also evidence of other interesting coverage of First Nations and Metis
issues during the examination period. On July 3, 2003, the Leader-Post published a large
picture of Terry Desjarlais on the front page of the second section of the paper, showing
Desjarlais paying bus fare to a Regina city bus driver, to mark the occasion of an increase
in basic bus rates. This was not particularly an 'Aboriginal story;' - the person paying the
fare could have been of any ethnicity. Using an Aboriginal person in the picture was a
positive sign in terms of diverse coverage and the concept that Aboriginal people can be
used as sources and otherwise in media stories that are not defined as primarily
Aboriginal. Arguably, the negative side to this incident is the fact the picture stood out
because it was unusual.
Other positive and insightful stories done by the Leader-Post during the content
analysis period include the graduation of Tanja Maxie from the First Nations University 121 of Canada in Regina. Tanja was the first person in her family to graduate from high
school, and the first to graduate from University (Pruden, June 10,2003: B4). The story reflected the pride of an important milestone for Tanja and her family. In discussing
Tanja's specific situation, the story also discussed the importance of education for
Aboriginal people as a whole, and included a discussion with Dr. Bob Morgan, described
as an Indigenous scholar at the university. To this researcher, the use of Dr. Morgan as a
source is a good example of using an Aboriginal person as the 'institutional' representative rather than the more usual non-Aboriginal person. A few days later on
June 12, an editorial called First Nations Students Shine appeared which outlined how
Saskatchewan First Nations students are making some impressive educational strides.
Another area in which the Leader-Post can be commended is in its use of First
Nations columnist Doug Cuthand who writes weekly columns for the paper on
Aboriginal-related issues. In the period under review, seven of Cuthand's columns
appeared on topics including treaty days and the importance of the treaties, the reason
why prisoners should be allowed to vote, the importance of First Nations land and the
value of First Nations languages. These columns are so informative, and so important,
that they stand out in every edition that they appear in. In one column, Cuthand used the
annual celebration of treaty days to explain exactly what the treaties are and why and how
they were signed. His item appeared to recognize that too many Canadians are unaware of
the special relationship that exists between Aboriginal people and the federal government.
Cuthand's items tend to stand out in the sea of other coverage. 122 8.3 The Ramsay Coverage
While the Leader-Post comes under some criticism in this content analysis an earlier examination done by media critics had considerable praise for the paper in its portrayal of a story related to a northern Aboriginal community. Henry and Tator (2002) examined coverage of The Globe and Mail, the Saskatoon StarPhoenix and the Regina
Leader-Post in a case involving Jack Ramsay, a Reform Member of Parliament, and a young First Nations woman. Ramsay was accused of sexual assault by the woman in
1999 in connection with an incident that happened thirty years earlier when Ramsay was an RCMP officer stationed in Pelican Narrows, a small First Nations community in northern Saskatchewan (Henry and Tator, 2002: 205). In the analysis, the Globe and
Mail was accused of resorting to stereotypes in its presentations of Pelican Narrows by describing the community as 'not a dream posting' with 600 Cree people rammed into log shacks on rocky brush sloping up from the lake who were forced to survive without running water or telephones (Henry and Tator, 2002: 206). Henry and Tator outlined how the Globe described Ramsay as being sympathetic to First Nations people and critical of other RCMP officers who walked into reserve homes without knocking and used
'drunken Indians' to pad their arrest statistics (Henry and Tator, 2002, 207). Henry and
Tator suggested that racism, sexism, and classism intersected consistently throughout the
Globe's coverage of the trial" (Henry and Tator, 2003: 215).
The analysis went on to describe how the Globe coverage supported and validated the dominance of white, Anglo-European culture (Henry and Tator, 2003: 215). The same analysis suggested that the Leader-Post coverage provided more relevant context, with more details of the trial and more attention to Ramsay's political position (Henry and Tator, 2003: 214). Noticeably absent in the Leader-Post's reports was any commentary about the social conditions in Pelican Narrows, particularly about the victim's substance abuse problems, nor was there discussion of poverty or violence that allegedly characterized relations in Aboriginal families. "In short, the local coverage did not resort to stereotypes about Native people" (Henry and Tator, 2003: 214). Henry and
Tator suggested that the Globe's conservative ideology was often characterized by the
'othering' of disadvantaged peoples.
The intent of this content analysis was to review the content of the Regina Leader-
Post over the period of time in question, to examine the type of coverage it provided about First Nations people leading up to the August 9,2003 special feature section on residential schools. At the beginning of this discussion, it was indicated that while measurement was involved, the project was not intended to be a scientific, statistical report. It was also acknowledged that the coverage of Aboriginal issues in the Leader-
Post was not measured against, or compared to, any other stories the paper produced.
The results demonstrate that the Regina Leader-Post could improve its coverage of Aboriginal people and issues and that it could be more alert to certain changes that could be instituted in its coverage of crime and Aboriginal people. While it is troubling that more than half of the stories with an Aboriginal component during the research period could be considered crime/justice system stories, it is also clear that significant attention is being paid to the coverage of Aboriginal issues. The newspaper's decision to produce four special features each year on Aboriginal issues is one example of a positive initiative by the paper. The paper also has an Aboriginal employee who provides cultural awareness training and other services to the paper. The fact that the Leader-Post has a 124 reporter of the caliber of Doug Cuthand, who produces insightful columns on First
Nations issues with context and detail, is heartening.
The coverage of the Tamra Keepness story with its loose links to prostitution, drug dealers and other social problems in the neighbourhood, with no real explanation as to what relationship, if any, this had to her disappearance is somewhat troubling.
However, given the nature of the overall story and its twists and turns, and given the sheer number of stories that were produced in the research period, it is not entirely surprising that there would be some problems. This researcher also has concerns about the use of sources, which seems to support the view of some scholars and the journalists interviewed for this paper, that the mainstream media too often appears to accept an approach that suggests that Aboriginal people be used as sources only when the issue being reported is
Aboriginal in nature. In addition, media stories related to Aboriginal issues also tend to include a non-Aboriginal representative of an institutional elite as a source.
In conclusion, the coverage of the Leader-Post over the nine-week period was easily placed into some, but not all of the existing theories and concerns regarding the mass media and coverage of First Nations issues. At the same time the paper, often in contrast to these concerns, demonstrated some real insight, concern and effort in its coverage of Aboriginal issues. This bodes well for a changing media and offers hope that the insight and concern not only continues, but also grows. More reporters with the knowledge and background of Doug Cuthand will certainly provide invaluable contributions. CHAPTER NINE
CONCLUSION
The immense power and impact of the mainstream mass media is undeniable and growing. The ability of the media to inform us and to shape our views has been well established in this thesis. The information the media provides is impacted by issues such as ownership, ideological approach, the structure and nature of news, and hiring practices, all of which conspire to relegate the coverage of Aboriginal people and issues examined to a less than satisfactory level.
David Taras suggests that the media is in crisis (Taras, 1999:1). He argues that the media is owned by a small group of the powerful elite and that the quality of journalism has deteriorated with news now being dominated by blood, gore, crime, celebrity news and sports. He posits that all of this serves to weaken the capacity of people to communicate and to see their own reflections (Taras, 1999: 2). This research supports that premise and outlines the negative impact that flows from the domination in terms of information about Aboriginal issues in modern society.
This thesis outlines how many media experts believe that the mainstream mass media does a poor job reflecting Aboriginal people and issues. Aboriginal journalists who have worked or currently work in the mainstream media interviewed for this thesis
agree with the acknowledged experts and a content analysis of the Regina Leader-Post
demonstrates room for improvement. The concern about media portrayal of Aboriginal people is related to power and impact. Just as negative and inaccurate portrayal including
stereotypes creates misunderstandings and bad relations, positive, accurate coverage can help to do the opposite. It can help to create understanding and potential good relations. 126 Grenier writes there is enormous potential for the mass media to be a front runner in the forging of amity, tolerance and understanding between Aboriginal people and other groups (Grenier, 1991: 273). This researcher agrees. However, this thesis is not suggesting that all stories about Aboriginal people should be positive. Instead, it is suggesting that too few stories are positive and that too few stories encompass the context and detail that would help to build clearer understanding. Not enough stories portray
Aboriginal people as 'normal' members of society with 'normal' stories, with issues such as day care, taxes or potholes in the highways. In other words, there are too few stories about, and with, Aboriginal people where their ethnicity is irrelevant to the story and their inclusion provides a more accurate reflection of the social fabric of the province. This thesis argues that whitecentrism, or the prism of whiteness through which too many media stories are filtered, does a disservice to society as a whole.
There are many obstacles that appear to stand in the way of improved coverage of
Aboriginal people in the mainstream media and sometimes those obstacles appear insurmountable. The issue of concentrated media ownership and how it impacts news production is one factor and the very structure of news with its demand for immediacy, which makes it difficult to ensure Aboriginal sources, is another. However, there are some obstacles that can be overcome and initiatives that would make a considerable difference. One is the presence of journalists, producers and editors who themselves have a better understanding of Aboriginal people and issues. These are the people who are making important day-to-day decisions as to what the general public will see and hear and they need to be able to tell the stories of Aboriginal people in a way that provides context and history and promotes understanding and good relations. This education could be provided in schools, in universities or on the job. Another initiative that would have a
large impact is the assigning of individual reporters to specialize in Aboriginal issues.
This would help to ensure the presence of at least one reporter in the newsroom with
some in-depth knowledge of Aboriginal issues. Even when not covering stories, this reporter could provide assistance to others in the newsroom who might need help with
their reporting of Aboriginal issues. The Aboriginal reporters interviewed for this thesis
all agreed that education of existing reporters is an important element to improved
coverage:
I think the most important thing is education of reporters and the mainstream media. There are so many newsrooms around the country that are so; they lack so much information of what First Nations culture is. They know there is a powwow, ok, that's a big Saskatchewan dance, they don't know the culture. There are so many different aspects of our culture, everything from humour to traditional ceremonies, to non-traditional ceremonies, that I think there could be some training there. I think newsrooms would benefit from having someone go and do some seminars, talks, having maybe a reporter or two in the newsroom gathering with other reporters, learning from an elder, from a person who can give them the education they need (Bird interview, 2005).
Another thing which the reporters interviewed agree on, as do the academics, is
the need for more Aboriginal journalists in the newsrooms of the country. The numbers
to date are so low that they should be considered a national disgrace. In addition to
providing better coverage of existing stories, the presence of Aboriginal reporters in the
newsroom also leads to stories that the newsroom would otherwise not get:
It brings perspective. They get newsrooms into places where they normally wouldn't go. I know that I've got my newsroom into stories that they probably wouldn't have gotten to right away because nobody knows them. People know who I am and they trust me, because they know that I understand the culture, I understand the protocols, I understand how Aboriginal First Nations people think, how they respond, and how they feel how the outside world perceives them. So I bring that sensitivity and I approach stories with that sensitivity, and you know, I have been successful so far (Brass interview, 2005). The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples was clear in its position that the best way for the news media to convey a more accurate understanding of Aboriginal issues is to include more Aboriginal journalists on their staffs (RCAP vol. 5,1996: 104).
It also said that if nothing else, the growing number of First Nations people living in urban centres should be forcing media organizations to recognize their presence and hire more journalists. RCAP suggested that while many mass media items have been produced about First Nations issues since the Oka crisis, most of the items produced continue to be written and produced by non-Aboriginal people. Van Dijk agrees with
RCAP and suggests that: "If there is one influential factor that contributes to the role of the media in the reproduction of racism, it is the continuing under-representation and the discrimination of minority journalists, especially in Europe" (Van Dijk, 1993: 244). He agrees with other media commentators that since most journalists are white and because most white journalists have little first-hand knowledge of minority communities, their reports tend to be less informative and more stereotypical than those of minority journalists (Van Dijk, 1993: 244).
It is only fair to note that some critics suggest that a diverse newsroom does not necessarily mean diverse coverage. Some studies show that there is evidence of contemporary racist coverage even in news organizations with racially diverse newsrooms (Campbell, 1998: 53). It is suggested that those with truly original and radical approaches to coverage of underrepresented people and causes have great difficulty in getting their ideas translated into journalistic action (Keever, Martindale and
Weston, 1997: 348). They argue that the problem lies as much with attitudes as it does with statistics (Campbell, 1998: 53). Campbell goes on to say that minority journalists may inadvertently play a role in the advocacy of subtle attitudes of contemporary racism: "Stories by journalists of all colours reflect the dominant newsroom values, which dictate similar coverage of events by minority and non minority news people" (Campbell,
1998: 54). This leads him to conclude that the problem may have as much to do with class as ethnicity and he argues that the media rarely cover the underclass of any race:
"When journalists of colour arrive in newsrooms where coverage reflects a hegemonic understanding of class, the racial diversity they bring may not be equally diverse in terms of class" (Campbell, 1998: 55).
With all due respect to Campbell's musings it would appear that the presence of
Aboriginal reporters in newsrooms is beneficial to the coverage of Aboriginal issues.
That certainly is the view of the six journalists interviewed for this thesis, the view of many media scholars and the view of many reports and commissions. At the very least, one could argue that just having an Aboriginal reporter in a newsroom can bring a perspective that is helpful and educational for other reporters, who may not be familiar with Aboriginal people and Aboriginal issues. Having said that, to some extent
Campbell's argument carries some validity in that it is not good enough just to have an
Aboriginal reporters) in the newsroom. One has to value that person, not only as a reporter, but as an individual with a different culture.
This researcher does not pretend to purport that more Aboriginal journalists in the newsrooms of the country is the only solution to providing better and more accurate images of Aboriginal people and issues in the media, nor do the Aboriginal journalists interviewed. What this thesis does suggest, as do the Aboriginal journalists interviewed, is that the portrayal of Aboriginal people in the mainstream media is poor, and that more Aboriginal journalists and better educated journalists would help to improve the
situation and provide potential to increase public understanding of Aboriginal people and
issues. Makau observed: "Competent moral decision-making in the postmodern world is
dependent upon the narrative richness, exposure of underlying assumptions and values,
and critical understanding made possible only when decision makers have access to and have the vision, talent, and insight to hear a wide diversity of voices"(Makau, 1997: 63),
or as journalist Michelle Hugh puts it: "I think the media can be really effective in
producing change in our society, in our societies, if they would just commit to it, and I
think you need more Native people in there doing it" (Hugh interview, 2003).
There is no doubt that over the years, the volume of diversity issues has increased; however, there continue to be lingering concerns about the extent and quality of the
coverage of Aboriginal peoples and issues (Balkan, 1997: 125). Studies continue to
demonstrate that news pictures and stories are whiter than the Canadian population itself,
and that many of those pictures and stories are uncomplimentary towards Aboriginal
people. Media that purport to serve a diverse pluralistic society have an ethical obligation
to provide a spectrum of perspectives reflecting that pluralism (Gordon, Kittross and
Reuss, 1996: 144). While Aboriginal coverage is improving, the improvements are
coming too slowly. More Aboriginal journalists such as Betty Ann Adam, Nelson Bird,
Mervin Brass, Doug Cuthand, Merelda Fiddler, and Michelle Hugh in the newsrooms of
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REGINA LEADER-POST - CONTENT ANALYSIS
Brownlee, Karen. "Crime Study: A Lot of Youth Gangs in Sask." June 4, 2003. Al and A2.
. "Small Cities: Gangs Losing Appeal." June 5,2003. Bl.
Bream, Joseph. "Tamra Stepfather Says Police Have it All Wrong." July 14, 2003. Al and A2.
Editorial. "Our View". June 7,2003. B3.
Goerzen, Matt. "Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation: Band Council to Decide on 'Dry' Status. June 19, 2003. B3. Hall, Angela. "Searchers Battle Heat on Weekend." My 19, 2003. Al and A2.
Hughes, Bob. "Living Every Parents Nightmare." July 14, 2003. Al and A2.
. "To Talk of Racism Tainting the Search for Tamra is Sheer Nonsense. July 15, 2003. A2. Johnstone, Bruce. "Carry the Kettle First Nation: Firms Compete for Gas Rights." June 30, 2003. B8.
Lavoie, Judith. "B.C. Coast: Lost Whale Stays a While" Regina: June 16,2003. A7.
McLeod, Melody. "Media misses story in past teen murders." June 3, 2006. Bl.
Pacholik, Barb. "Disappearance Baffling." July 19, 2003. Al and A2.
Pratt, Glen. "Commentary: The Awful Reality of Residential Schools." August 9, 2003.
Pruden, Jana G. "First Nations University: Grad Makes History." June 10, 2003 .B4.
Regina Leader-Post. "Our Views: Gang Problem Growing." June 7, 2003. B7.
Rhodes, Veronica. "Police Tactics Upset Tamra's Mother." July 11, 2003. Al and A2.
. "Missing Regina Girl: Police Prepare for the Worst." July 14, 2003. Al and A2.
. "Missing Regina Girl: Tamra's Siblings Taken Away, Children May be in Danger." July 22, 2003. Al and A2.
. "Missing Regina Girl: FSIN has Questions, Vice-Chief says Province Returned Keepness Children to their Mother Weeks Before Tamra Disappeared.' August 4,2003. Al and A2.
and Anne Kyle. "Missing Regina Girl: FSIN had it Wrong, Stepdad." July 6,2003. Al and A2.
Stewart, Jane. "Saying Sorry." August 9, 2003. C7 (From Speech)
Switzer, Tim and Jana G. Pruden. "Tamra, Where Did You Go: Search Continues for Missing Regina Girl." July 9, 2003. Al and A2.
and Anne Kyle. "Missing Regina Girl: Vanished, Police Admit Search for Tamra has Yielded Precious Little So Far. July 10,2003. Al and A2. Warrick, Jason. "Residential Schools: Seven 'Survivors" Honoured. August 5,2003. Bl.
. "Canada's Dirty Little Secret." August 9, 2003. C6.
. "Money Didn't Help." August 9, 2003a. C5.
Wilson, Peter. "A Place to Heal." August 9,2003. C2.
Wood, Allan. "Regina Mystery: Search Intensifies for Missing Girl." July 9,2003. Al andA2. APPENDIX A QUESTIONS SUBMITTED TO ETHICS BOARD
Questions
1. Where you are from and why did you decide to get into the field of journalism? 2. What kind of journalistic experience do you have? 3. Where have you worked? 4. What kind of training did you have in preparation for journalism? 5. Why did you choose journalism? 6. Why did you choose to work in mainstream journalism? 7. What kind of reaction did you get from your family when you told them you where going to be entering mainstream journalism? 8. Why did they like/dislike your choice? 9. What do you think about their feelings? 10. What are you doing now and where are you working? Or- What were you doing in your last job in the media and where did you work? 11. (If no longer in the media) Why did you decide to leave the media? 12. How difficult was decision to leave? 13.Once you started working in the media, did you find that it was what you expected? Why or Why not? 14. What's your perception of how the mainstream media in general handles First Nations issues? 15. How would you describe the overall knowledge of the general public when it comes to First Nations issues? 16. Can you describe any particular incidents that demonstrate that knowledge? 17. What about the organization(s) you work/ed for, how did they handle First Nations issues 18. What, if any role, do you have in the coverage of First Nations stories? 19. How would you describe your feelings about that role? 20. How does your family see your role? 21. How would you describe the feelings you have doing First Nations stories? 22. What kind of difficulties, if any, do you have doing First Nations stories? 23. What kind of reaction do you get from other First Nations people to your work? 24. What kind of reaction to you get from other First Nations people about the mainstream media and its handling of First Nations issues? 25. What kind of difficulties, if any, do you have in the "office" when it comes to First Nations stories? 26. Do you think your opinion on First Nations stories is valued and why or why not? 151 27. How would you like to see things changed? 28. What kind of reaction does you think your "workplace" would give or gives to suggested changes in dealing with First Nations issues? 29. What kind of changes do you think need to be made in mainstream media coverage of First Nations issues? 30. Why do you think those changes aren't seen more often? 31. What is the main stumbling block in the coverage by mass media of First Nations issues? 32. Would you say things are things getting better or worse and why? 33. Just recently a situation involving David Ahenakew, a prominent First Nations politician from Saskatchewan, and remark he made regarding Jews made headlines in Saskatchewan in the country and around the world. What are your views of the mainstream coverage of those events? 34. If you think the situation should have been handled differently, can you describe in what way? 35.1 have asked many questions, is there anything you would like to tell me about your situation in the mainstream media that I have not already asked? 152 APPENDIX B ETHICS BOARD CLEARANCE M ^lyERSITYOF OFFICE OF RESEARCH SERVICES Regina, Saskatchewan Canada S4S 0A2 ®LREGINA phone: (306)585-4775 fax.- (306)585-4893 www.uregina.ca/research DATE: August 25, 2003
TO: Ms. Alethea Foster 3365 Angus Street Regina, SK S4S1P9
FROM: Dr. J. Roy Chair, Research Ethics Board
Re: The Role of First Nations Journalists in Mainstream Media.
Please be advised that the University of Regina Research Ethics Board has reviewed your proposal and found it to be:
1. ACCEPTABLE AS SUBMITTED. Only applicants with this designation have ethical approval to proceed with their research as described in their applications. The Tri- Council Policy Statement on Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans requires the researcher to send the Chair of the REB annual reports and notice of project conclusion for research lasting more than one year (Section 1F). ETHICAL CLEARANCE MUST BE RENEWED BY SUBMITTING A BRIEF STATUS REPORT EVERY TWELVE MONTHS. Clearance will be revoked unless a satisfactory status v report is received.
ACCEPTABLE SUBJECT TO CHANGES AND PRECAUTIONS (SEE ATTACHED). Changes must be submitted to the REB and subsequently approved prior to beginning research. Please address the concerns raised by the reviewer(s) by means of a supplementary memo to the Chair of the REB. Do not submit a new application. Please provide the supplementary memorandum, or contact the REB concerning the progress of the project, before November 21, 2003, in order to keep your file active. Once changes are deemed acceptable, approval will be granted.
UNACCEPTABLE AS SUBMITTED. Please contact the Chair of the REB for advice on how the project proposal might be revised.
"\v\. JoanJSoy \ n c J c. D. Miller, supervisor
PG/sc/ethics2.dot 153 APPENDIX C CONTENT ANALYSIS GUIDELINES - REGINA LEADER-POST
DATE: / /2004 DAYM T W TH F S
PAGES A B
OTHER TOTAL PAGES
PAGE* SIZE PLACEMENT T M B
SLUG:
OUTLINE: SK OTHER:
REPORTER SK REPORTER WIRE REPORTER
SK NO/REPORTER WIRE NO REPORTER
ITEM TYPE NEWS FEATURE EDITORIAL
CARTOON PICTURE LETTER OTHER
ITEM FOCUS: EDUCATION CRIME RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS
CULTURE WELFARE ECONOMIC
POLITICAL FSIN BAND OR TRIBAL C
CASINO METIS HUNTING METIS OTHER
GENERAL TONE POSITIVE NEGATIVE NEUTRAL
SOURCE DOCUMENT GOVT EVENT
ABORIGINAL DOCUMENT SPEECH NEWS CONFERENCE
INITIATED INTERVIEW MUNICIPAL DOCUMENT OTHER
INTERVIEW ABORIGINAL NON-ABORIGNAL NONE
STORY BACKGROUND